A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay In the time Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol life was tough. Poverty was common and for most people food was scarce. Many people were forced to move to the already overpopulated, crowded cities and due to the lack of housing many of these people were living in horrible conditions on the streets. Dickens tried to point out some of the social issues of the time through his literature in the hope that something could be done to make conditions for the poorer people better. One issue Dickens points out is how money could change peoples lives dramatically. In A Christmas Carol Scrooge represents a rich snob. He is stubborn, selfish and self-centred. He appears to be ignorant to all the poverty around him and doesnt acknowledge the impact it has on peoples lives. Scrooge is the type of person many of us would purposely avoid meeting, talking to or even catching eye contact with. It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance (Page 35). It seems Scrooge makes a conscious effort to be seen as a loner and perhaps even enjoys it. The Cratchits represent the other side of the story and many of the poor families living at the time, they are poor and have so many hardships they have to cope with they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbrokers. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time (Page 84). This shows how, even though they didnt have very many things going for them, they were happy with what they had been blessed with. In stave 3 Scrooge is taken by the ghost of Christmas present to see the Cratchits Christmas dinner. The dinner is not very big at all, as they all know, but Mrs Cratchit refuses to believe that they had eaten it all and everyone had enough to fill their starving stomachs. Mrs Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadnt ate it all at last! (Page 81) we are seeing her mothering instincts here as she tries to persuade herself, and anyone else listening to her that she has managed feed her family adequately and shes not stinting them despite the situation. Tiny Tim is a cripple, and represents the Cratchits unending struggle to cope with life. This doesnt upset the family though, because they treat him in the same way they treat each other. Before Scrooge met the family he was callous and uncaring, so when he asks the ghost if Tiny Tim will survive, the ghost quotes Scrooges words If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population Scrooge then realises how horrid he had been in the past about cripples and other less fortunate people than himself so he was overcome with penitence and grief, feelings he hadnt felt for a long time. The Cratchit family are certainly not as rich as Scrooge but they are so much happier. They believe family and friends are so much more important than work and money. Mrs Cratchit doesnt worry about not having very much food, she worries more about her family and if anyone is late on Christmas day. What has ever got your precious father then, said Mrs Cratchit Page 79. This shows how loving Mrs Cratchit and the rest of the family are to each other, and they would rather have a smaller portion of food than some of the family missing out and having more food to themselves. Scrooge has a very different view on life to the Cratchits, he believes he doesnt needs friends, family and happiness because he is rich, has a successful job and works hard. What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? Youre poor enough. (Page 36) Scrooge believed this until he met the Cratchit family.

Remaking Beowulf as a Christian Hero Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essay

Remaking Beowulf as a Christian Hero The story of Beowulf is full of religious references and symbolism, but is it truly a Christian story? According to the narrative, Beowulf is an instrument of God, an instrument of righteousness called by God to perform His will for the Danes. In stark contrast to his good, is the enemy, Grendel, the incarnation of pure evil. These two characters appear to represent the forces of good versus the forces of evil. It would be easy enough to leave the story that way, but it appears that Beowulf is written intentionally to make the main characters appear more important by adding Biblical references to the narrative. By creating characters of a Biblical stature, the story as a whole has an added importance. The story was to be important enough that those who told it and those that heard it would never forget the tale. This gruesome creature was called Grendel, notorious prowler of the borderland, ranger of the moors, the fen and the fastness; this cursed creature lived in a monster's lair for a time after the Creator had condemned him as one of the seed of Cain - the Everlasting Lord avenged Abel's murder. Cain had no satisfaction from that feud, but the Creator sent him into exile, far from mankind because of his crime. He could no longer approach the throne of grace, that precious place in God's presence, nor did he feel God's love. (102-113) Grendel is likened to Cain in this passage, but he seems to show characteristics of the devil as well. He is called a prowl... ...ciety. The pagan religions were passing away and being replaced by new traditions and a new religion. Maybe this version of Beowulf is like a remake of an old movie done forty years ago. It had been revamped to fit in with the times. If it had, it was a good idea, because this "modernized" version of Beowulf has certainly stood the test of time. Works Cited Blackburn, F.A.. "The Christian Coloring in the Beowulf." In An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism, edited by Lewis E. Nicholson. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1963. Bloom, Harold. "Introduction." In Modern Critical Interpretations: Beowulf, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Frank, Roberta. "The Beowulf Poet's Sense of History." In Beowulf - Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.

Abrahamic Religions

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all very closely unified as Abrahamic religions because they share a multitude of common beliefs and thoughts. Hinduism, on the other hand is almost complete opposite of these religions. The extreme differences within these religions has seemed to cause problems between them throughout history. Hinduism is considered to be an Eastern religion while Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered Western. (Lafave,2004. Location, leaders, religious practices, and political issues are just a few aspects that bring them to differentiating opinions. The Abrahamic religions have many shared ideas and thoughts in relation to life and the driving force of the universe. Jews ,Christians, & Muslims all agree upon the notion that there is only one creator of all of humanity. They are all monotheistic religions and they rely on holy scriptures as a life guided tool. The Christians use the Holy Bible, Islams refer to the Qu’ran, while Jews refer mostly to the Torah.All believe that the human body is only a temporary state and that if the soul is a deemed a good one by following God’s plan then it goes on to live eternally in heaven with Jesus or the equivalent. If the soul judged by God is unworthy, then it must live in hell with the devil. Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike all believe in a coming of the Messiah, though at different times. Another shared belief is that GOD is a merciful God and must be respected and given praise accordingly.He will forgive the sins of the people by repentance and one must live their life according to his teachings. These beliefs are just the tip of the iceberg when talking about similarities between the Abrahamic religions. Hinduism is an almost complete opposite of the Abrahamic religions. Hindus have no substantial founder of the religion nor do they only worship just one God, but different Gods and Goddesses and manifestations or aspects of the Supreme God. Hinduism is considered a pol ytheistic religion.The life guided scriptures used by them is the Vedas which are considered the oldest and most sacred religious texts. Hinduism beliefs consider karma to determine one’s life path for the future in the cycle of reincarnation. Karma is considered to be the universal law of cause and effect. They consider life to be a continuous cycle and the end goal for them is to be released from life by â€Å"learning the true illusions of life and achieve unity with the Brahman†. â€Å"Individuals may find release from life by devotion to one or more of the Indian Gods. (Hopfe &Woodward,2009. p. 98)Hinduism has grown to become the world’s third largest religion. Places of worship include temples and home shrines. Brahman is the unifying principle and Supreme Reality behind all existance though is rarely worshipped. Brahma is the most widely known and is the recognized one as Creator of the world. The similarities that are shared by these religions are very few and many conflicts have actually risen from differences in views of the world.In modern civilation in these days and times, I believe in unity of all religions. If the whole world could all come to a common point of understanding, there would be less need for war and misunderstanding of humanity. Even though these religions are deemed so different, I believe there is a unifying force that helped create them all.References Hopfe, L. & Woodward, M. , (2009). Religions of the World,11th ed. Lafave, S. , Retrieved January 2004 from http://instruct. westvalley. edu/lafave/east_west. html

Climate Change Is Our Fault - 922 Words

Climate Change is Our Fault The truth is earth is heating up and it is partially humans fault. The simplest of human activities can alter the climates to change. Humans are not the only climate drivers. There are also natural factors (â€Å"How Much Does Human Activity Affect Climate Change?†). The earth is changing due to the climate changes . For future generations the earth may perhaps look different (Nuccitelli). Human activity is advancing global climate change rapidly. Humans are the main factor in the ongoing climate change. Many daily activities contribute to climate change. These activities include the burning of fossil fuels (â€Å"A Blanket Around the Earth†). Co2 is the main heat trapping gas (â€Å"How Do We Know That Humans Are the Major Cause of Global Warming?†). Humans produce a lot a CO2 every day. When individuals burn fuel, CO2 is released into the atmosphere. The fuels that are being released are jumbling with earth’s natural greenhous e gasses. For every gallon of gas that is burned, 1300 times that of CO2 is released. Also a gallon gas weighs 6lbs, but the CO2 that is released weights over 19lbs (â€Å"How Much Does Human Activity Affect Climate Change?†). CO2 is also emitted from farms, landfills, and power plants, which are all human run facilities (â€Å"How Do We Know That Humans Are the Major Cause of Global Warming?†). Human activities can also alter earths’ reflectivity. When we construct roads and farm we alter earth’s reflectivity. This causes sunlight to reflectShow MoreRelatedClimate Change: Whos to Blame?1008 Words   |  5 PagesClimate change is defined as the alteration in patterns in temperature and weather. A new wave of climate change, bringing warmer temperatures and more extreme storms, began to catch the attention of scientists sometime in the late 20th century. 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