Tender is the Night so far!

The world that F. Scott Fitzgerald creates in Tender is the Night is one of beauty and warmth. The opening chapter is set on a crowded, sunny beach in France. It is here, at an upscale resort amongst new friends that Rosemary will learn things that will give her a new perspective on life. She is an up and coming movie star and is recognized most everywhere she goes. She is too pretty for her own good and most of all she is young, just 18. Rosemary is determined and knows what she wants. More than anything she wants Dick Diver, a wealthy man who lives in the resort where Rosemary is staying. But he has a wife, Nicole. When Rosemary first meets the DIvers, she is captivated. They are the greatest thing she has ever seen. They are beautiful, wealthy, and seem to have the perfect life. Throughout her stay at the resort, Rosemary learns things that she never planned to about the Divers. And she and Dick fall in love, while he is still in love with his wife Nicole, who we learn is mentally unstable and was hospitalized for her illness when she and Dick met. So far, Tender is the Night is a very interesting love story with a few twists and turns here and there. I am about halfway through and am excited to finish the story. Most of all I enjoy the language that Fitzgerald uses. It is simplistic and pretty and his imagery is so effective.

Antygokneeez Dillema

Antigone is a story about listening to your heart rather than abiding by the established law. When her brother is killed in battle, Antigone goes against King Creon's law that forbids anyone to bury him. However, Antigone believes there is a higher law that needs to be recognized. So, she buries her brother, even against the wishes of her sister and the wishes of Creon, but it is what she believes is right. Throughout the story, the idea of whether Antigone's actions are right or wrong is wrestled with. There are two sides, Antigone's and Creon's. Antigone's sister does not support her in her act and Creon's own son is against him as well. It seems blood does not take sides. Interestingly, the Chorus takes the side of Creon, saying "You have passed beyond human daring and come at last into a place of stone where Justice sits....Reverence is a virtue, but strength lives in established law: that must prevail." What defines right and wrong? What makes each character take the sides they take? And when can one throw aside state laws and go by a moral code instead? These are some questions that Antigone sparks.

There is no real answer to this question, I think it varies from person to person. There are times when the law should be taken very seriously and there are times, such as Antigone's situation, where it is necessary to take alternate action. Antigone had to bury her brother or he would have been lost in the Underword.

Creon is displayed as the villan in the story. He has sound leadership qualities and rules as a great king, in terms of his enforcement. The law he made about Polyneices is not necessarily unjust because he was an enemy of the country. However, it was a little harsh to punish Antigone for sprinkling dust over he brother for closure and insurance for him in death. This harsh punishment was what brought his downfall in the end. He, himself was punished with the suicides of three people. Creon, in the end, gets his retribution.

A woman like that is not ashamed to die

I go out at night, a possessed woman. Possessed, that is what I would have to be to do what I do as a “job.” I pull on my fishnets one leg at a time, wondering if I will make it through one more night. My tight leather skirt feels even tighter than usual, it’s suffocating me. I can feel the layers of makeup on my face. I look sloppy, but I don’t even care. No one cares. People say a woman like me isn’t really a woman.

I make my way to the dark alley where I usually work. It is damp, lit only by one streetlight. There I am surrounded by girls both older and younger than me. If I am surrounded by people, why am I so lonely? After a few minutes a black Mercedes slides up to the curb. The passenger’s side window rolls down and a man, about late twenties, leans over from the driver’s seat. He looks us all up and down. He chooses one of the newer girls. I examine her young face and decide she is about seventeen. I want to shake her and scream at her, “why are you here!!?”

Then I ask myself, how did I get here? More importantly, how do I get out? I hate my life. I am an outcast in society with few friends and no family. I live alone, I depend on no one but myself, and no one depends on me…thank god. I have made this “job” my own now.

I have been caught once, burned like a witch at the stake because of my occupation. I can still feel those cold, hard handcuffs around my wrists and that ear-splitting sound of a siren will never leave my head. It was alright though, I survived it. I thought I would never go back to that dark alley after that. But it’s hard to get out once you’ve been there. I have ruined my life, and nothing more can shame me.
Therefore, I am not ashamed to die.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDcARJqtqFs