The Legacy Of Abraham Lincoln - 1117 Words

Hofstadter is an author who criticizes many historians. In the book, â€Å"In The American Political Tradition† Hofstadter does nothing but criticize different historians. One particular historian he challenges in his writings is Abraham Lincoln. According to Hofstadter, Abraham Lincoln was â€Å"the exemplar of the self-made man,† he was a very humble man that easily pleased the people and easily attained very high political ranking, as well as success and a lot of power. Abraham Lincoln’s flaws as a president were often overlooked because many Americans felt as if he brought to life what is known to be the great American dream. Because of this, many of his good qualities were true, but yet exaggerated. In this chapter about Lincoln it was†¦show more content†¦Even though Abraham Lincoln was considered to be one of America’s greatest presidents, Hofstadter challenges that idea. Hofstadter also states that Lincoln was an advocate for the common ma n and believed in simplicity. – â€Å"It was precisely in his attainments as a common man that Lincoln felt himself to be remarkable, and in this light that he interpreted to the world the significance of his career.† Lincoln struggled with many conflicts as president. The most significant conflict that Hofstadter presents is the conflict of his balancing his religious beliefs and ultimate goals of becoming successful. â€Å"The motivating force in the mythology of success is ambition, which is closely akin to the cardinal Christian sin of pride†¦ How can an earnest man, a public figure living in a time of crisis, gratify his aspirations and yet remain morally whole? â€Å"He believes that making him known to be the â€Å"clean hero† was completely outlandish. Hofstadter’s biggest criticism about Lincoln is that â€Å"he was a follower and not a leader of public opinion.† One major example was the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which sta ted that â€Å"contained no indictment of slavery, †¦ expressly omitted the loyal slave states from its terms †¦ [and] did not in fact free any slaves.† Hofstadter also criticizes Lincoln’s â€Å"embarrassing contradictions† when it came to the topic of slavery, where in a Chicago speech he presented he said

The necklace Essay Example For Students

The necklace Essay Shirley Jacksons insights and observations about man and society are reflected in her famous short story ;The Lottery;. Many of her readers have found this story shocking and disturbing. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first, the shocking reality of humans tendency to select a scapegoat and second, society as a victim of tradition and ritual. Throughout history we have witnessed and participated in many events, where, in time of turmoil and hardship, society has a tendency to seize upon a scapegoat as means of resolution. The people of the village had been taught to believe that in order for their crop to be abundant for the year, some individual had to be sacrificed. Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon, said Old Man Warner. The irony here is that villagers are aware that this act is inhumane but none want to stand and voice their opinion, for fear of going against societys standards and being outcast or being stoned. ;Its not the way it used to be, Old Man Warner said clearly. People aint the way they used to be.; Fear that if they go against society they might be chosen as the lottery winner or there might be a truth, after all, that it would disrupt their corn season. ;Some places have already quit lotteries,; Mrs. Adams said. ;Nothing but trouble in that,; Old Man Warner said stoutly. ;Pack of young fools.; In stoning Tessie, the villagers treat her as a scapegoat onto which they can project and repress their own temptations to rebel. The only person who shows their rebellious attitude is Tessie. She does not appear to take the ritual seriously, as she comes rushing to the square because she ;clean forgot what day it was;. The villagers are aware of her rebellious attitude and they are weary that she may be a possible cause for their crops not to be plentiful. ;It isnt fair, it isnt right,; Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. We can understand how traditions are easily lost through the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another. It is how traditions that lose their meaning due to human forgetfulness can cause dreadful consequences to occur. Although ;the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original box, they still remembered to use stones;. Do people just pick and choose which part of a tradition they want to keep? We tend to remember the actions and the objects necessary to proceed with a ritual, but we always seem to forget the purpose or the reason behind it. Are we correct in still continuing the tradition even though, there is a victim involved? It seems we, as part of a society, are scared of being ridiculed if we change or end a tradition because everyone around us will still behave in the manner they were taught. ;The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions,; shows that the meaning and purpose behind the ritual had been lost and they were just acting it out through repetition. The villagers, who remember some bits of history about those forgotten aspects of the ritual, arent even definite about the accuracy of their beliefs. Some believe that the official of the lottery should stand a certain way when he sang the chant, others believe that he should walk among the people. No one exactly remembers the how and why of the tradition, most have become completely desensitized to the murderous rituals. Examinations - has it killed education? Essay She knew exactly how much to ask for, as we can tell when she said I dont know exactly, but it seems to me that I could get buy on four hundred francs (paragraph 25). Mathilde behaves quite inconsiderately against Mr. Loisel, especially as the story climaxes and comes close to an end. The first example of her inconsiderate behavior .