The Pearl Essays (1016 words) - The Pearl, Cinema Of Mexico

The Pearl MATERIAL SOCIETY, MATERIAL THOUGHTS Ever since Midas' lust for gold, it appears to be that man has acquired a greed and appetite for wealth. Juana, the Priest, and the doctor have all undergone a change due to money. They are all affected by their hunger for wealth and inturn are the base for their own destruction, and the destruction of society. Steinbeck's "The Pearl" is a study of man's self destruction through greed. Juana, the faithful wife of Kino, a paltry peasant man, had lived a spiritual life for what had seemed like as long as she could remember. When her son Coyito fell ill from the bite of a scorpion, she eagerly turned towards the spiritual aspects of life. Beginning to pray for her son's endangered life. The doctor who had resided in the upper-class section of the town, refused to assistant the child, turning them away when they arrived at the door. Lastly they turned to the sea to seek their fortune. When Juana set sight on the "Pearl of The World." she felt as though all her prayers had been answered, if she could have foreseen the future what she would have seen would have been a mirror image of her reality. Juana's husband was caught in a twisted realm of mirrors, and they were all shattering one by one. In the night he heard a "sound so soft that it might have been simply a thought..." and quickly attacked the trespasser. This is where the problems for Juana and her family began. The fear that had mounted in Kino's body had taken control over his actions. Soon even Juana who had always had faith in her husband, had doubted him greatly. "It will destroy us all" she yelled as her attempt to rid the family of the pearl had failed. Kino had not listened however, and soon Juana began to lose her spiritual side and for a long time she had forgotten her prayers that had at once meant so much to her. She had tried to help Kino before to much trouble had aroused, only to discover that she was not competent enough to help. A hypocrathic oath is said before each medical student is granted a Doctors degree. In the oath they swear to aid the ill, and cure the injured. In the village of La Paz there lived a doctor who had earned his wealth by helping those that were ill and could afford his services. Not once in his long career would he have dared refuse to aid a wealthy lawyer or noblemen. However when Kino and the group of money hungry peasants arrived at his door with a poisoned child he had refused them entry saying "Have I nothing better to do than cure insect bites for `little Indians'? I am a doctor, not a veterinary." for the doctor had known that the peasants hadn't any money. He had been to Paris and had enjoyed the splendors of the world, and therefore he wouldn't be seen dealing with the less fortunate as he knew that the less fortunate would surely always be just that-less fortunate. However it seemed that he had been stereotypical of the less fortunate, as he soon discovered when hearing of a great pearl discovered by the peasants who had knocked upon his door earlier that day. A hunger for wealth was what pushed him to visit the peasants house and aid their destitute son. However he had already ended Coyito's life without knowing he'd done so, for if he had administered aid to Coyito when they were first at the doctors door, Kino would have no reason to seek his fortune in the ocean, and would not be led down the road to hardships. One might think that a doctor, one who has the image of being passive, and caring should not stoop to such a level. When one is down on their luck, chances are they will turn to superstition in hope to acquire what it is that they would want to achieve. A good example of this would be a good luck charm such as a rabbit's foot. In La Paz the peasants were uneducated and probably had never

Functions and Roles of Law essays

Functions and Roles of Law essays Ideally, a legal system should be a direct reflection of the society at any given time. What does one consider to be the main functions of the law in his/her society? To answer this question, one has to define precisely what law really is. The definition I like the most is very simple. Law is a set of rules to live by. There are descriptions of many different social functions of the law that can be found in various law books: promoting social freedom, keeping the peace and protecting the environment, promoting economic growth and many others. However, I think that the two main functions of the law are to maintain social cohesion and to keep up with social progress. Social cohesion is the bonding of people into a group extensive shared benefits and consequent actions. The law functions to maintain and establish social cohesion by reinforcing values; establishing patterns of acceptable conduct; providing dispute settling mechanisms and processes; providing law-making and law reform bodies and processes (Green, 1994). Social cohesion preserves the principle value of a given society by: implementing laws that outline standards of acceptable conduct; by providing institutions and processes that cater for the making of laws and resolution of disputes in a peaceful fashion; and by providing agencies that promote law reforms and changes. In todays society, the current legal system permits people great freedom, and regulates this freedom by setting limits. If these limits are breached, it means that one has just broken the law. Seems very easy. Unfortunately, it is not that cut and dry in a real world. The limits that define what is against the law and what is not are being tested in courts every day. There are many loopholes and ways around these precious limits. The good news is that people become used to acting within limits behaving in acceptable patterns. Todays legal system and law provide courts, tribunals,...