Paris au Pluriel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Paris au Pluriel - Essay Example In the Journey to the End of the Night, Paris has been depicted from the point of view of the marginalized, working class and slum dwellers of the early 1930’s, that is between the wars, a time when, in the language of the narrator–protagonist Ferdinand Bardamu, the world was busy with â€Å"killing or adoring, or both together. 'I hate you! I adore you!'’." The story, narrated in argotic language, almost echoed Celine’s life from1913 to 1932, with some changes needed for fictions. Cà ©line pursues Bardamu through World War I trenches in Africa, the a nightmarish work in a Ford factory in the United states, and his return to postwar Paris, starting medical practice in a Paris suburb area. Celine himself was a Doctor in pitiable Parisian districts, the misery of whose residents gave him a cynical view of humanity that he translated into his fictions - side-splitting besides being scary and ostensibly vulgar. The fictional La Garenne-Rancy where he painfully observed the appalling condition of the workers â€Å"bent over their machines,†¦ calibrating bolts and more bolts, †¦vapor that burns your throat and †¦attacks your eardrums from inside. It's not shame that makes them bow their head. You give in to noise as you give in to war. At the machines you let yourself go with three ideas that are wobbling about at th e top of your head. And that's the end." (from Journey to the End of the Night, as cited in Celine, kirjasto.sci.fi ) With 'Journey†¦, Celine liberated the French novel from the synthetically styled prose of Gide and Proust and gave it a plain passion and gnaw it never came across after Rabelais. It is a picaresque novel with the rogue protagonist, or antihero Ferdinand like Don Quixote, fighting "against all", yet whereas Cervantes, the creator of Don Quixote, lamented for the death of courtliness, Celine talked mockingly about the death of civility. As a slum doctor in Paris, he had heard every sort of howls-- of pain, rage and misery; mixed with his own typical French humor and changed by a style of high revulsion. This 450-page account of anger, acrimony, despair, disappointment, and acquiescence depicts a Paris of conflict, spinelessness, lies, sleaze, treachery, exploitation, perversion, bullying, cheating, gluttony, illness, isolation, insanity, lust, tittle-tattle, abortion, reprisal, and murder in a narrated in a way in which rarely any cheery word could be traced. From a literary stan ce, The Journey possibly could be ranked as havinng brought a strikingly new style, a chatty language that also includes many cultured elements wielding significant influence on later-day French literature. Albert Thinaudet, renowned French essayist and a major literary critic between-the- wars said that in January 1933 Journey was still a widespead topic at dinner parties in Paris (Godard, "Notice," in Cline). Journey was an instant success making Celine as a major literary figure. An broken up, hallucinatory and dreary novel heavy in slang, it followed Ferdinand Bardamu from the trenches of the First World War, to Africa, to America, ending back in Paris, where Bardamu started medical practice. The split, self-exiled narrative portraying a disintegrated world without loveliness, decorum or possible salvation was something awful to French readers: The worst part is wondering how you'll find the strength tomorrow to go on doing what you did today and have been

Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Personal Statement - Essay Example Since a very young age, I began to understand the technicalities of a business, how money was to be managed, what factors were good for a business, what factors disturbed it. What fascinated me most was the role played by money in every small decision of the business, and that is when my interest in economics started to bud. I began to notice the fundamental role of economics in my everyday life. I began to realize that economics permeated every aspect of the world, from politics to religion to social affairs; the economy had a role to play in every affair. Whether it was an unsatisfactory budget that affected us or the general down-fall of economy which meant less demand for luxuries, the economy has always affected me in a personal way. It comes as no surprise that I’ve always had to keep myself up to date with the ever-changing economic climate. Further aided by the fact that my grandfather happens to possess one of the soundest and most brilliant economic minds I happen to have come across, and when it was time to choose my future, there were no second thoughts involved in opting for Economics. Making a difference and changing the world for the better is a passion I hold very near to my heart. I have always grabbed every opportunity to give back to my society whenever I can. I have done volunteer work at the local church time and again. This has involved usher work as well as organizing events there. Moreover, I have taken part in beach clean-ups and other similar activities around my town. As I grew up and gained a better understanding of the world, I realized that the most effective manner in which I can do this is by altering the economy. With a healthy economy comes a better standard of living, and that leads to a generally happier society. I believe that a good student should encompass all the different dimensions that life has to offer. Fun, learning, leisure, socializing, room has to be made for each and every one if one wants to call himself a complete student. I myself have been able to follow this philosophy quite successfully. Striking the right balance between all these aspects, I have a lot of credentials to show for it. In high school, all my subjects other than economics have helped me in one way or another. Where Mathematics helped me develop fundamental concepts and helped me in economic calculations, accounting helps me understand a completely different side of finance and psychology helped me understand how people’s thought processes work and why they do the things that they do. However, academics are not as wide as my horizon goes. There is so much else more to my individuality. Throughout my school life, I have been involved in a variety of social work. This includes organizing fund raisers for various charities, helping out orphan children or even planting trees in deforested areas. One major activity I was involved in was the raising and distribution of funds collected for the Tsunami that hit the coasts of South and East Asia a few years back. Thereafter, I was elected as President of our school’s Community Service Club. Furthermore, I happen to be a very accomplished sportsman. I have been playing for my House cricket, football and basketball teams since the early days of my school. Even though I take part in all the sports I can, I have a special place in my heart for football. My other activities involve playing rhythm and bass guitar with various bands in the city, writing and helping my parents go on with