Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Black Death

Have you ever heard the children’s nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie?” How about the term “Black Death?” Well, guess what? The two are directly related. By examining the widespread death, economic disaster, and social distress created by the Black Death during the Medieval period, the devastation of this pandemic disease is more easily understood.
The Black Death of the 14th century, famous for holding the highest death toll from any non-viral epidemic, wiped out between one- and two-thirds of the European population. (Black Death.html) The popular aforementioned chant “Ring Around the Rosie” was created to describe the widespread death among the inhabitants. It is as follows:
“Because of The first line evokes the round red rash that would break out on the skin of plague victims. The second line’s ‘pocket full of posies’ would have been a pocket in the garment of a victim filled with something fragrant, such as flowers that aimed to conceal the smell from the sores and the dying people. A second creative explanation for this line is that it referred to the purported belief that fresh-smelling flowers, nosegays, and pomanders would purify the air around them thus warding off disease. A third possibility
includes the idea that ‘posies’ are derived from an Old English word for pus, in which case the pocket would be referring to the swelling sore. ‘Ashes, ashes’ would refer to when people alive and dead were gathered up into piles and lit on fire in a belief that burning the diseased bodies would not allow the disease to spread. Several alternate endings to the song exist, one being: ‘atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down,’ interpreted as invoking the sneezing before ‘we all fall down,’ the eventual succumbing to death.” (Ring A Ring O’ Roses.html)
Some regions suffered more than others. For example, in only one year 45 to 75 percent of Florence Italy collapsed while 60 percent of Venice was wiped out in a period of 18 months (with a daily rate of five hundred to six hundred deaths at the peak). There was a 50 percent mortality rate at Avignon. “Long-term population loss was also instructive. Urban populations recovered quickly, in some cases within a couple of years, through immigration from the countryside because of increased opportunities in the cities. Rural population though, recovered itself slowly, for peasants left their farms for the cities.” (Knox 15.html)
A second aspect is the disaster which the Plague placed on the economy. “Malnutrition, poverty, disease and hunger, coupled with war, growing inflation and other economic concerns made Europe in the mid-fourteenth century ripe for tragedy… Economic historians like Fernand Braudel have concluded that Black Death exacerbated a recession in the European economy that had been under way since the beginning of the century. As a consequence, social and economic change greatly accelerated during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.” (Black Death.html)
In the cities, financial business became warped when debtors, their families, and their kinsmen nearly all fell victims to the plague. The creditors no longer had a means of collection. Consequently, the money was lost. Special machinery and mills would cease to run properly, but only a handful of townsmen could repair them. These men would most often be found dead due to the Black Death. Little or no construction was being done due to the loss of workers. Towns became desperate for this work to be completed and proposed excellent pay. The short-term effects of the rigorous labor shortage were increasing wages. The prices of numerous goods lowered in accordance with the mortality. To put it simply, the standard of living for the living went up. (Knox 16.html)
In the countryside, whole villages and farms felt the plague’s wrath as well. The only remaining survivors saw no point in sticking around, so they up and left these abandoned places. By the early 1400s Norwegian seamen rediscovered some of these villages and farms in Greenland only to find the remaining untamed cattle wandering aimlessly. Entire families died leaving whole homes barren. The remaining landlords were left to deal with labor shortages. Because of this shortage, they ceased to release their Serfs. (Knox 16.html) “As a result of depopulation, the nature of farming in some areas changed. In middle England, there was a move away from arable to pastoral farming which was less labour intensive. Lords leased out their land because rents had fallen and land that had been left was taken up and used to meet costs. Consequently, many labourers enjoyed higher standards of living and lords enjoyed greater profits, despite higher costs.” (Economy After Black Death.html)
Serfs wanted to get away from their lords so that they might enjoy the beauty of life amidst the grimness of death surrounding them. They left all the tilled land, crops, and animals as they were so those things eventually just died. (Knox 16.html)
There was no real law enforcement, so the people did as they pleased. “Bechini” were a group who ransacked houses, killed and sexually assaulted people. They wore red robes and masks which concealed all but their eyes. (Black Death: 1347-1350.html)
As far as social distress is concerned, it didn’t matter which social group a person was in or how much money they had when the Black Death hit; it was seemingly unstoppable. This is evidence that there was much social distress during that day and time. “The noted Florentine historian, Villani, wrote this: ‘And many lands and cities were made desolate. And the plague lasted until __________’ Villani left a blank at the end of the sentence, planning to fill in a date after the plague had abated. He never did. Villani died in 1348 from the plague.” (Knox 18.html)
Schools and other educational facilities closed due to the mass loss of life. At Cambridge University 16 out of the 40 professors fell victim. In the churches, priests, bishops, and successors all died leaving no one to hear the remaining populations confessions. The people were left in hopelessness. There was a lack of religion at this point because nobody could figure out why God would allow such terrible things to transpire. (Knox 18.html) “The plague was a serious blow to the Roman Catholic Church, Europe’s predominant religious institution at the time, and resulted in widespread persecution of minorities such as Jews, Muslims, foreigners, beggars and lepers. The uncertainty of daily survival created a general mood of morbidity influencing people to live for the moment.” (Black Death.html)
Many also assumed the end of the world was near. Courts and city counsels closed as well. Wills could not be proved genuine since there were so many. A name could be borrowed at any time for a quick profit from the remnants of the economy. (Knox.html) “Normal people were tormented by the threat of death, causing them to change their views on leisure, work, and art. Even children suffered.” (Black Death.html)
By now it is quite evident that the 14th century’s Black Death was indeed a mass surrounding of “black death.” After taking a look at the widespread death, economic disaster, and social distress, the ghastly epidemic could only bring back a plethora of horrific memories.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Foreign Mud Writing Assignment

According to Wikipedia, author Maurice Stewart Collis (1889-1973) was an apparent history buff during the course of his life. With this knowledge it is no surprise to find that the majority if not all of his published works are largely based on historical matters. Take Foreign Mud for example. Although the text is not a primary source, being that Collis was not living during the time frame highlighted, he managed to find first-hand accounts from those actually living in the period of Anglo-Chinese conflict. These documents, which could be articles from newspapers like the Chinese Repository, journals of those secretly assisting in the opium trade, or official letters transferred between countries, are carefully pieced together for effect and innumerably quoted throughout the book. As a whole Collis does not appear to take the side of either the British or the Chinese; he remains neutral, letting the reader alone decide which country seems to be more “in the right.” To the reader’s advantage, he fully expands on the views of both sides.
Collis takes the point of view of both the British and the Chinese, which allows the novel to be more intellectually challenging. He is basically saying to his audience, “Here’s what went down. Now you decide for yourself. Who was right? Were the consequences and penalties fair?”

The conflicts begin while Britain’s Lord Napier serves time in China to assist with the trade and foreign matters. The Chinese are so meticulous and uneasy about all the foreign merchants trying to establish trade with them, so Napier has to deal with all sorts of ridiculous Chinese rules and edicts constantly being issued. He is renamed Laboriously Vile because he is highly disproved of by the majority of the Chinese officials. But soon Napier falls extremely ill and dies a sudden, unexpected death.

Not long afterwards (December 1838, to be exact), the Chinese emperor appoints a native called Lin Tse-hsu as Imperial Commissioner. His job is to aid in the overthrowing of the drug traffic since the foreign devils refuse to cease delivering his poor citizens the addictive foreign mud regardless of edicts, fines, and a strangling. Lin’s answer to the emperor was this: “All could be accomplished by pressure; the Europeans at Canton were wholly in the power of the Empire; …they could be overawed and frightened into delivering up the whole store of their opium, both at Lintin and afloat; …they could be forced into a written undertaking to deal in opium no more [because if convicted in Chinese Courts, strangulation was in order].” (Collis 204-205) Commissioner Lin follows through these views with which the emperor is well pleased. Captain Elliot, the British’s current Chief Superintendent at Macao, is pressured by Lin to surrender all of the smuggled drug. Twenty-thousand chests are eventually surrendered, Lin disposes all of it by dissolving it in water which basically just empties out into the harbor. Then as promised, the port of Canton is reopened for trade.

Later a Chinese man is killed on shore while English and American sailors are present. Commissioner Lin makes it of the utmost importance that China be compensated for this loss by the loss of another. Trials are held, Thomas Tidder is found guilty of murder, but there is no hard evidence to ensure his conviction is fair. For this reason the captain refuses to allow the Chinese to take one of his men. “Captain Elliot, whose main duty had become the safe-guarding of all British subjects, held is to be unsafe for any of them to remain at Macao…On 21 August [1839] he issued a public notice advising the British to cross the bay to Hongkong and take refuge there on the merchant fleet…It was a great shock for such people to be told, in the hottest month of the year, to abandon their luxurious homes at a moment’s notice… [But] they were afraid to fall into Lin’s hands, knowing him to be elated by his recent success.” (Collis 243-244)

Eventually all the arising conflicts in China make their way back to Parliament in the form of letters and accidental leakage. The public soon becomes fully aware of the drug traffic and the Whigs and Tories go head to head for days in the great Commons debate. Each party does its best to appoint eloquent and persuasive persons to speak on matters such as morality, fairness, and war.

Ultimately there is a war. Actually quite a few wars are tied together and named in history as the Anglo-Chinese Opium Wars. The Chinese try and stand firm, but the British artillery and warships are far too overpowering. Captain Elliot is dismissed and succeeded by Sir Henry Pottinger who carries out all the goals Britain had intended on having accomplished once the wars had concluded. On 14 August 1841 demands had begun to be met: “[The Treaty of Nanking] was a dictated peace and forced the Chinese to grant everything the British had been asking for from the time of Lord Macartney in the eighteenth century, as well as give satisfaction for Lin’s seizure of the opium…Hongkong was ceded to the British Crown absolutely. In addition… Treaty Ports were opened--Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai--where British merchants could reside with their wives permanently…and without being obliged to buy and sell through Hong merchants.” (Collis 307) Obviously enough, these were very detailed demands, but the Chinese fulfilled them nonetheless. They now respected British power, and the British soon began to enjoy the luxuries and comfort of living on true foreign mud.

To wrap it up, I cannot help but reiterate the fact that Collis has introduced these specifically selected occurrences during the time of the Opium Wars in such a non-biased and neutral manner. There is an abundance of factual evidence in the accounts collected. He does not give his personal opinion, which I would find almost impossible to accomplish within such a sizeable book.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Under the Influence- symbolism of cans and bottles

As the author mentioned, at the time the essay was written, some ten or fifteen million Americans shared his father's disease of alcoholism. As a child I used to see my own dad drink constantly. I'm not sure if he was an alcoholic or simply liked the taste of the drink, but there would always be a myriad of tallboys in the fridge when I'd come home from school. Every passing day I would see a beer slide its way into his hand as he sat on the recliner watching a football game or comedic movie, as he conversed with a buddy he had invited over, as he relaxed after getting off work. Every so often I would spy a sizeable bottle of Crown Royal lying around the house.
He really liked drinking on the holidays, but who doesn't? At annual family gatherings around Thanksgiving and Christmas the frothy beverages seemed to make the warm, comfortable atmosphere all the more bubbly. And as opposed to the author's father while drunk, my dad would transform into a stand-up comedian. He cracked jokes and checked people left and right never failing to make my relatives laugh hysterically. Although I was young back then, that didn't keep me from thinking my dad was amusing. He didn't have to be drunk to be funny; it just added on to the hilarity of his cool personality. He never got violent unless the wrong circumstances came about while he was drinking with a certain brother of his. After the first few incidents, however, this was avoided altogether.
His adoration for alcohol never really got in the way of my childhood either. And I say "never really" for a reason. In some ways booze did get in the way. Sometimes on random nights during the week he wouldn't even come home. Looking back I suppose that was a good thing since a DUI isn't too awesome. He was a good dad in most respects, always picking my sister and me up and throwing us high in the air so we would feel like we were flying, carrying us on his shoulders through the grocery store so we would feel like giants (and wouldn't have to walk), taking us with him to work just so we could spend more time together.
Then there’s my mom. She would stick to wine coolers and Smirnoff Ice on those giddy family-oriented holidays. It wasn’t until a few months ago actually that I finally discovered she had tasted liquor. Of course, unlike my dear old dad, she wasn’t a fan of Jack or Jose or any of their mouth-watering associates for that matter. My mom was always a more reserved sort of company. She loved to laugh at the crazy things my dad would come up with, but she was never the first to jump into the conversation and be wild and spontaneous as him. Basically she managed to have a great time regardless of the involvement of alcohol.
On a different note, this essay sort of scared me. Now that my dad doesn't live in the same state as me I no longer have a clue as to how much he might be drinking these days. He seemed kind of depressed when my mom told him she wanted a divorce (not because of alcoholism, mind you). It is a well known fact, however, that forms of depression may sometimes lead to alcohol or drug use and possible abuse in order to "ease the pain." The essay also worries me in the respect that alcohol is known for addictive properties, and I myself began consuming it in the tenth grade. I wouldn't necessarily say the piece makes me want to quit consuming my beloved whiskey altogether, but it definitely made me more clearly aware of the drink's potent and controlling power. And being the skeptic that I am (a see-it-to-believe-it type person), having read this first hand account from decades ago has truly caused me to be more wary of my consumptions.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Hedda Gabler

The first reactions I heard from others around campus on the subject of Hedda Gabler was that it wasn’t very good. People were saying they couldn’t relate to it and that it was too old-fashioned. A guy in my English class reiterated this fact when he told the class that on opening night it was packed, sold out, but that the audience didn’t react the way the cast or director expected. “They laughed when Hedda was displaying emotion. I mean, this is a melodrama not a comedy,” he said. The night I decided to see the play, there wasn’t as much laughter as I had anticipated which was a very good thing. Don’t get me wrong, there were some funny parts, but it was clearly as aforementioned a dramatic production.

I thought the lighting was pretty neat. As soon as Hedda broke out General Gabler’s two pistols for the first time, the backdrop turned red. Colors in theatre always represent something, so I figured at least one character was going to die somewhere along the way. The fact that the backdrop stayed a reddish color throughout a great deal of the play continued to reinforce my opinion, and the entire time I wondered who would be the victim.

I didn’t really understand how you could kill yourself gloriously, but Hedda kept saying that it was how a person contemplating suicide, especially her ex-flame, Lovborg, should go out. I share the same view as my boyfriend on that matter: I don’t have much respect for someone who commits suicide. It just seems like they couldn’t handle life, didn’t want to deal with it, and took the easy way out. Well guess what? Life isn’t always easy. I understand that she tangled herself into that unwanted predicament, but she shouldn’t have just shot herself in the head (or anywhere for that matter). She could have run away like Thea did. Obviously Hedda was smarter than Thea. I think anything is better than suicide because hey, “when life gives you lemons- make lemonade.”

Hedda was a very controlling lady. I don’t understand why she married Tesman if she didn’t love him. Then again I never had the chance to experience a woman’s life in the 1950s. But for such a control freak, it seems like she would have gotten her way a long time ago. It seems as though she would have the man of her dreams, the prime house, and loveable children of her own. Perhaps she’s just immature and can’t decide things on her own. She takes numerous drastic measures which in the end hurt more than help her situations (i.e. marrying Tesman, putting specific thoughts in Thea’s head, giving Lovborg a pistol, burning his book, shooting herself in the head). It all just adds up to disaster.

The props were all suitable for the time period. The tables and chairs had an older elegance to them. The set was very airy, but who needs walls? I’ve always wanted beautiful glass doors opening to a luscious backyard garden, so those were pretty cool. The lighting and costumes were very appropriate. I especially liked all of Hedda’s clothes. People in the ‘50s didn’t dress to bad in my opinion.

Overall I really enjoyed watching the play despite what I’d heard prior. Having read A Doll’s House also by Henrik Ibsen, it is apparent that he’s a decent playwright. Hedda Gabler was far more entertaining than anything I’ve seen at Malco lately.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Rake: A Few Scenes from My Childhood

When you think of a rake, the first thing that comes to mind is yard work. Everyone knows that it is a utensil for cleaning up a yard, for removing small sticks and leaves. The rake, as do many other lawn care tools, has a very violent and vehement appearance. It is almost as though the teeth are a large claw connected to a sturdy stick. In The Rake: A Few Scenes from My Childhood, this simple device becomes anthropomorphic, or seems to take an animated form.
Throughout the entire story neither the boy nor his sister feel safe in the midst of their home. Constantly being blamed for whatever goes wrong within their household (around dinner time especially), they reluctantly endure living with their mother a stepfather. Though they live in their neighborhood’s “model (first built) home,” the atmosphere within the walls are anything but exemplary. The stepfather causes the children to feel there is an absence of security all around them by frequently abusing them and refusing them rights. Their mother, who, coincidentally was treated the same way by her father as a child, doesn’t offer them much help; she is the one who married the sinister man. Whenever the boy goes to visit his father on the weekends his sister always manages to get beat, hit, or slapped by the stepfather. On one occasion the mother even performed an unrighteous act towards the girl. She removed her from the lead role the night of the school play because she was too nervous to eat.
Now let’s talk more about the rake. After all, it is included in the title obviously making it an important article to the author. As I said the brother and sister are repeatedly being maltreated in an ongoing battle in which they can’t prevail against the mother and stepfather. The rake seems to symbolize one battle somewhat won by the children. Although the girl’s wound caused by the rake is the brother’s fault this time (as opposed to the oh-so-wonderful stepfather), he apologizes and the two quickly hurry inside. Also this time neither of the children are banished from the dinner table as usual nor do they manage to do something that might cause the round glass table to be shattered. The mother threatens she won’t take them to the hospital if they don’t explain what happened to the girl’s lip, but once they quietly finish their dinner she surprisingly shows signs of compassion by taking them anyway. Because of that, this childhood scene is clearly separated from the rest making it appear to be a victorious battle.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

A School Shooting Response

By now everyone on campus, in the city of Memphis, and probably the entire country know of the incident which happened on Sunday evening. University of Memphis football player Taylor Bradford was shot and later died after crashing his car into a tree. Personally I didn't know him nor could I honestly verify I had ever seen him on campus for the short time I've been there. But there are a few things regarding this tragedy I just don't understand.
Why did the guy have so much money on him? I heard reports saying he had gone down to the casino prior. I also heard he was at a safety meeting. Either way why would he just be walking around on campus with that kind of money anyway? Some say the act was premeditated. How did the shooter know of this large some of money? Did he even know? Why did Bradford try to drive himself somewhere instead of making use of the numerous emergency posts on campus? How about a cell phone? If you have thousands of dollars in your pocket surely you must have one.
It's really sad that I can say this, but I'm not surprised something like this would happen. After all, we live in Memphis which is known for its high crime rate, bad drivers, and idiotic mayor. My boyfriend used to live in some apartments off of Spottswood and Highland. Incidents like this happen over there even more, that being only a block or two away off campus. The University of Memphis definitely isn't in the best area of town.
Now I think enrollment rates will drop because this is the third incident that has happened since classes began a mere six weeks ago. The people who already lived in Memphis are likely to stay because they are used to hearing about murders and the like. But as far as out-of-towners-- they probably fear for their lives. Memphis Police are so used to these incidents as well, so I'm wondering whether they will seriously be looking into this crime, or if they will just give up since cases as this are so abundant in the city. It is almost too easy to get away with murder in such a substantial area inhabited by over a million people.
I don't know if this had to do with a trip to the casino or if it dealt with drugs. Alongside Memphis's high crime rate come quite a few large drug smuggling operations. There have been relatively recent busts to prove this fact. To reiterate, not many people walk around with a couple thousand dollars on them and have somebody else know about it.
I hate the fact that life is so fragile. I know people who have been shot. They were fortunate enough to get through it a live to see another day. This whole shooting incident does make me a little uneasy, but I've been around guns pretty much every day these last few months. I think it's about time I learn how to use one for my own safety. I heard this was one of the safest campuses in the state of Tennessee. So much for that claim.........