American Literature

Though William Faulkners works were well respected enough to earn him a place of its own in the world of early twentieth century literature, he is also tied close to the Southern Renaissance movement, which encapsulated literature in the region just after World War I and helped to change the perception of the South abroad. Faulkers own struggle with identity is an interesting item to behold, especially considering the fact that the author wrote on many items that related to the theme of identity in a Southern context. As James Charles Cobb wrote in his work, Away Down South A History of Southern Identity, the regions people struggled to maintain personal identity, while also adhering to the framework of societal norms. Additionally, the South itself struggled with themes of identity, often not knowing its place in a changing world where things were bound to be very different. Cobb wrote, Because it was grounded so firmly and rigidly in a carefully constructed historical narrative, the weight of New South orthodoxy fell heavily on an emerging cadre of Southern historians who faced especially strong pressure to fit their version of the regions past within the framework of the New South identity (Cobb, p. 99). Given that this struggle for identity is a very real part of many works born in the Southern Renaissance period, it figures that an author as prominent as Faulkner would have taken up the torch. In works like the Snopes Trilogy and These 13 and many more, Faulkner manages to weave in themes of Southern identity into his writing, while diligently developing meaningful dialogue. In many different types of work, Faulkner was able to effectively detail the struggles of both individuals and the South as a whole to adjust to its new subjective reality and the identity that it would take between the two World Wars. He dealt with what Cobb described as the impossible load of the past (Cobb, p. 130), unraveling that idea for the masses.

In order to understand how Faulkners works may have related to the Southern Renaissance, one must first understand that basic ideas and themes covered in that movement, as described by the people who know literature the best. According to Richard Kings A Southern Renaissance, the period was one where both writers and common people were forced to change their ways a bit. They had a new world to learn, and writers led the charge in that regard. King wrote, The writers and intellectuals of the South after the late 1920s were engaged in an attempt to come to terms with not only the inherited values of Southern tradition, but also with a certain way of perceiving and dealing with the past, what Nietzche called monumental historical consciousness (King, p. 7). Cobb described this phenomenon as the special detachment and steadfast point of view (Cobb, p. 132) that writers featured during that time. King went on to write about the actual struggle to find the perfect blend between the past and the present, which is where the theme of identity becomes so important. The South is forced to reconcile itself, while also holding on to those ideas that have become so very important over the years. He writes, It was vitally important for them to decide whether the past was of any use at all in the present and if so, in what ways (King, p. 7). This eloquent and accurate description provides a proper context for understanding some of the innate challenges faced by those individuals who wrote the South into the new era. Essentially, this is what Faulkner and others were doing, as their words led the charge and forged opinions of what the changing South would be. With that understanding, it is much easier to consider the ways in which Faulkners work related to the central theme of identity in the Southern renaissance movement at that time. One thing that Cobb is quick to mention is that Faulkner himself shows the mixed emotions that Southerners had about their own identity. He writes that Faulkner says, Some of the things I dont like at all, but I was born there and thats my home, and I will defend it even if I hate it (Cobb, p. 139). In this, one can see the conundrum that Southern writers were forced to encounter. King even opined that Faulkner missed the mark with this work, saying that he never quite gets the story right (King, p. 120).

In a way, many of the characters in Faulkners works experience a similar experience as Faulkner and his fellow writers. According to King, this includes a very important choice that these writers and all southerners had to make as the region moved from its roots to its new identity. King writes, Historically, the choices open to the white Southern writer or intellectual have been limited, though not as restricted as those imposed on Black Southerners, or, say, upon the intelligentsia of Czarist Russia. He could leave the South, perhaps under pressure, assimilate to the national culture, and forget his origins. Or he could leave, and remain a Southerner in manner and sympathies, serving as an explaner of the region to the rest of the nation (King, p. 11). What Faulkner does is effectively create characters that are forced into these unique situations in which they need to choose between one or the other. Additionally, his characters are pushed into conflicts as a result of their identity, but these conflicts are not always with other characters in the story. At times, Faulkner used his characteristic stream of consciousness writing to bring to light the internal conflicts that many individuals faced. These characters represent a breathing interpretation from Faulkner on the nature of the Southern development and how the changing cultural dynamic is forcing different people into unfamiliar spots and circumstances.

One work where this is most evident is Light of August, Faulkners work about a mixed man who struggles with his own personal identity. The reason why this work is such a powerful one in relation to the Southern Renaissance is that it includes themes of both cultural and individual identity. It speaks to the fact that the South is still trying to figure out its stance on multi-cultural people, and through the inner dialogue of Joe Christmas, it speaks to the individual struggles that undoubtedly took place during that time. A critical review by Janet Zhan speaks to this fact, and perfectly illustrates the way that this particular story traces the lead characters identity from start to finish. In her review, Zhan writes, Throughout Light in August, Joe Christmas struggles with his identity. He is partially black, and he is partially white, something that wasnt socially acceptable in the twenties and thirties, when ever a little black blood would cause others to consider you as being completely black. Joe doesnt know how to act, because he does not know if he should act white or black its impossible to act both white and black simultaneously. In the end, however, after killing Ms. Burden, Joe somewhat makes peace with his identity (Zhan, p. 1). This is a perfect example of one of the issues that the Southern Renaissance touched on. Not only did it throw the focus on identity, but also how that identity was impacted by racial relations. This is something that Cobb touched on in his work when he described Joe Christmas as a tragic mulatto figure (Cobb, p. 141).  Because of the nature of the South at the time, race was still a very important idea and people were still being defined by their color. For individuals like Christmas, not having a single color could be worse during that time than having one color, since neither group was accepting of multi-cultural individuals. In one instance, this comes to fruition, as the character is referred to in the story as a white nigger (Faulkner, p.321). Cobb describes the struggle as something that could have been avoided for the character, except that he wanted to push the social envelope (Cobb, p. 142). This singular struggle was something that the movement touched on at length, and it serves as a very important theme that pervaded much of Faulkners work through the period. In that work, Faulkner writes of Christmass struggle, But there was too much running with him years, acts, deeds, omitted and committed, keeping pace with him stride for stride, breath for breath, thud for thud of the heart, using a single heart (Faulkner, p. 448). Additionally, Faulkner seeks to separate himself and take a step back from the character, as indicated in the article by Zhan. She writes, It is important to recognize that Faulkner writes about Joes last moments in quotation marks, almost as if to separate himself from the viewpoint that hed like us readers to understand from the passage (Zhan, p. 1). She goes on to write, While describing Christmass identity struggle, the character narrates (Zhan, p. 1). This is different from the rest of the story, where Faulkner relies on a distant narrator that may be his own voice. This struggle was something that caused the character to run from who he was, and to run to something new, even if he did not exactly know what was waiting for him. Zhan described this as a tug of war (Zhan, p. 3) that the character was forced to deal with. Additionally, this work suspends the character in limbo over his lineage, as he does not know his parents exactly. This was another point where identity came into play, as indicated by Zhan. She writes, Part of Christmass struggle involves not only his determination to be either black or white, but also involves not knowing his parentage (Zhan, p. 3). Eventually, the character made peace with the mixed blood (Zhan, p. 3), but it was not until after much strife and trouble. This is what the Southern Renaissance wrote about primarily. The writers, including Faulkner, discussed the personal development of characters suspended in time, moving from a familiar era to an unfamiliar one, trying to fit in during a changing period in American history.

Cobb denotes that Faulkner also touches on these themes in his work, Sartoris. This is Faulkners chance to touch on identity from the other side of the fence, taking a look at how more wealthy and affluent Southerners had to deal with it. For it was not just the blacks and brow-beaten individuals that struggled with identity instead, it was everyone. Cobb writes, In Sartoris, Faulkner drew heavily on both personal feelings and family experiences to present the ineffectual struggle of a venerable Southern family (Cobb, p. 140). Additionally, he touches on the fact that individuals of different generations are having a hard time reconciling their viewpoints to create an identity. He writes, More revealing still is the inability of his grandfather, a former Confederate officer who represents the Lost Cause ethos in which his grandson has been thoroughly immersed, to be of much assistance (Cobb, p. 141).

One of the most widely studied of Faulkners works is one called Absalom, Absalom, which takes a different look at identity in the Southern context. One of the prevailing themes of Southern life was the struggle between power and identity. Because of the old, traditional nature of the proceedings down South, individuals brokered power and passed it down from generation to generation. It was something that came as a result of family reputation, land ownership, and other societal conventions. This book also speaks to the lost identity and what King calls the declining Southern aristocracy (King, p. 111). The book itself takes a long, hard look at the idea of power and identity, which is one of the central themes of the Southern Renaissance movement. The author centrally questions, through his unique use of narrative, why individuals have power and what can be done to act out against this system of power brokerage. Additionally, he looks at guilt over slavery and the oppression of blacks (King, p. 112), as brought to light by King.  Fred C. Hobson studied this book at length, writing his own case study on the work. He essentially took a hard-line view on exactly what the author was trying to get across, and he also took the time to consider how identity played a key role in shaping the action throughout the work. In his review, he wrote, Sutpen wants revenge not against the injustice of that mastery which the powerful have over the powerless, but against those artificial standards or circumstances that determine who are the powerful and who are the powerless, against the artificial standard of inherited wealth and the circumstances of ones birth. Faulkner says that Sutpen in his quest for revenge violated all the rules of decency and honor and pity and compassion (Hobson, p. 51). This is something important to note, as the review shows that Faulkner is once again taking a shot at breaking down how identity is determined in Southern society. One of the key ideas of the Southern Renaissance is not only telling the story of how the South is run, but being somewhat critical of the old approaches. In this work, the lead character sees the societal conventions in the South as being somewhat silly, as they do not truly show who is the most worthy of power. Instead of being earned, power is actually bestowed upon people by no means of their own doing, which is something that seems to put off the author and appears to hold back Southern society at the time. Additionally, this touches upon a theme from the Southern Renaissance that must be highlighted. That is that the authors continually show those characters to be in conflict with society when they make their decisions. Characters are continually forced to make difficult choices and to have to face what society tells them about identity. These characters make significant strides both for themselves and for society at large, but it comes at a cost. They endure certain hardships as a direct result of the undertaking that they are attempting to complete.

Additionally, this work is one where the reader can see the supposed importance of the movement itself. As noted by Hobson, Faulkner once went so far as to call this work the best novel yet written by an American (Hobson, p. 3). This speaks to the identity struggle and just how important it was for Faulkners work to uncover many of the themes surrounding the South at the time. The work deals with the racial burden (Hobson, p. 4) of Southern history, which is a difficult and complicated topic. It does, however, show Faulkners relation to identity and the Southern Renaissance.

Additionally, one can see in the short stories of Faulkner a prevailing theme. He uses these stories to highlight the identity struggle that the South as a whole has to undertake in order to move from one point to another. Flem Snopes, in the Snopes Triology, is constantly searching for something. This has long been noted as one of the most complex and interesting characters in all of Faulkners literature, and that has a lot to do with the fact that the character struggles to find a place, while living in a society that is struggling to find its place. In these stories, there is a feeling that the South as a whole is looking to understand what is going on around it. There are some questions about how the region will be able to reconcile the history of slavery and develop a new identity from that. For the longest time, writers and individuals in the South had been clinging to the old war chant, not wanting to let go of the old picture of the South. Though the phrase, The South will rise again is something that is typically used in joking fashion, this was the actual viewpoint of many of the writers leading up to World War I. After that, writers like Faulkner started to write about societies where the identity was much more undefined. Without their old war cry and forced to move into the next generation, societies like the South had trouble with definition. What were they going to be known for What would make them special This is what characters in Faulkners short stories look to figure out, and it is what society around them is moving toward.

In all, the work of Faulkner is interesting because it provides an absolutely perfect picture of what the Southern literary movement was all about just after World War I. Calling it a renaissance was truly the right phrase, as the movement was one that saw a complete re-birth of ideas and a new direction for both the writers and society at large. Specifically, Faulkner touches on the Southern Renaissance theme of identity, and he does so in a number of ways. Individual identity struggles and societal identity issues were both central to what made the movement important, and Faulkner was a leader in writing about that. He did so with a characteristic style, allowing the individual characters to struggle enough that their struggles told the story of what was happening in the South at the time. More aptly, it told the story of the South that certain authors envisioned, and helped to usher in through their works.

Marijuana has long been used by different cultures around the world. Today, many sectors are pushing for its legalization. Marijuana use does not induce crime, it is a potential medicine, and its sale will stimulate the economy.

Studies show that marijuana use decreases aggression (Tinklenberg, 1981). And while possession related arrests are considerable, alcohol-related crimes are higher. By decriminalizing marijuana use, government agencies can focus more time and resources against other illegal substances and activities.

Legalizing marijuana will also promote further research on its prospective use against appetite loss, glaucoma, pain, weight loss and other diseases (Earleywine, 2009).

Meanwhile, regulated cultivation and sale of marijuana may also help the economy with its potential revenues (Easton, 2004).

Many sectors are calling for its legalization. Although I am not a marijuana user, legalizing it will encourage responsible use and promote medicinal research while stimulating the economy.

As stated in Milton Friedman in an open letter to the President and other State legislatures, marijuana can really boost the economy of a country so legalizing can only exploit that advantage. A report has asserted that legalizing marijuana will result to a savings of more than seven billon dollars a year in the disbursements of the state. The action will also generate more revenues that can amount to a minimum of 2.4 billion dollars. Putting tax on marijuana will also generate income (Moffatt. If marijuana gets to come out as a public good ready to be consumed, the people will be less wary when purchasing it, and the national coffers will abound. Aside from this, lifting the ban on marijuana will likely make it easier for everyone to enjoy its undisputable benefits, as proved by scientific researches.

The prohibition of marijuana has created a stir at the time it was ordered. The proclamation has caused a great rift among groups of scientists, psychologists, moralists and even ordinary people. The main argument for the said act was that marijuana injects an unusual and negative kind of highness among its users. The arguments claim further that using marijuana can lead to mental disorder and psychological distortion. As the arguments resound and there was not much room for a counter-argument to be hurled back, the idea that marijuana was bad and must be banned has prevailed.

However, my position in this paper goes in contrast to the majoritys claim. I believe that marijuana must be illegalized and we must stop the ignorance over this issue.

Several scientific researches have not missed out the point that marijuana has a lot of benefits to the total ebbing of an individual, not only on their physical, emotional or psychological being. Marijuana creates a balance within our mind. As we know, our mind is composed of two sides the right side and the left side. The right is where reason weighs more and the left is where emotion and intuition reside. Taking up marijuana nearly perfects the balance between these two sides. While the left side takes charge of perceiving information, the right side is responsible for receiving them. Hence, when balance between these two sides is achieved, the capacity of human mind for thinking will improve.

Marijuana also reduces our mental anxieties as it transports us from a worried state to a state of euphoria  a state of homeostasis.  In homeostasis, we are in a state of balance where we have the capacity for making sound judgments and thinking with perceptiveness and clarity.

The state of highness which is often imputed upon marijuana perhaps to render it as a negative thing is not exactly like the way it is being explained.

It is considerably true that marijuana infuses a feeling of being high. However, this feeling of highness is not the destructive type. When one takes up marijuana, one can obtain a heightened state of consciousness  one gets to submerge himself to the state of not being heavily burdened while being energized to resume to his normal activity once he opted to do so. This is in contrast to the popular claim that marijuana induces an altered state of unconsciousness where individuals get to escape their internal conflicts by being subliminally transported to that terrain of highness, and perhaps, oblivion, albeit fleetingly only. What marijuana gives is a sense of relaxation and being conscious of it.

The other benefits of marijuana include stimulating our bodily appetite. It was also proven that this prohibited drug could aid in curing multiple disease, many of them are being the cause of fear among many of us. Marijuana can help in improving the condition of those who have or are experiencing arthritis, anorexia, chronic nausea, epilepsy, asthma, Alzheimers disease and cancer, one of the top medical causes of deaths in the world.

From these proofs, it is undeniable that the benefits of marijuana outweigh its so-called harms. While there are many claims pointing to the hazards of taking up marijuana, a study made by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention will prove otherwise. While they found out that more than 22, 00 cases of deaths were caused by alcoholic intake and more than 13, 000 were caused by having liver disease, there was zero record under marijuana (Husak 45).

What do these data show is a complete inversion of what are commonly presented in the popular discourses, particularly in the media. At this point, we can infer that there has been a miseducation of the people regarding the issue of marijuana. Only the brickbats against marijuana were being maintained and they propagate that information. Not few, but many systematic studies have already validated marijuanas potential contributions to our welfare. If those who are opposing this proposal will counter that marijuana can still be exploited and overly used, my rebuttal is that they should focus on the enforcement and monitoring teams which can be formed by the government or any authoritative agency. In dealing with issues concerning personal cases, marijuana should not be blamed. What must be looked into is the governments manner of implementing the guidelines in the use of drugs and monitoring that these guidelines are being adhered to.

Therefore, I conclude that marijuana should be legalized for its many benefits to be maximized by the people. Definitely, its legalization must be coupled with a guarded implementation and monitoring techniques to ensure that it will not be abused. The problem does not lie on marijuana per se, but on the system of implementing its usage. We should lift the ban on marijuana, let the people use it and then enforce a tight security to ensure its proper usage.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS
The Physical benefits of marijuana are far-reaching, widespread, and long-term. Because of the way marijuana impacts the Autonomic Nervous System which expands the breath and relaxes the body, its potential for health and healing are enormous, and have been completely unrealized by Western Medicine. The following passages are excerpted fromThe Benefits of Marijuana Physical, Psychological,  Spiritual

 The simultaneous opposing action of marijuana is akin to balancing our entire system. Such balance in the ANS can be understood as a charged equilibrium, which is defined as well-being experienced as physiological expansion and psychological contentment and responsible for health. (p. 29)

The net effect is a highly functioning, yet relaxed, system with better fuel. This is why, with marijuana, the feeling is both relaxed and alert, which explains, in part, the experience of being stoned. Normally the body vacillates between the two opposing modes of being. The effects of the complicated marijuana molecule somehow actually integrate these two modes, simultaneously, as absolutely nothing else does. (p. 30)

Although specific effects of marijuana in the body are well known, each has been taken in isolation without noting that both sides of the Autonomic Nervous System are conjoined. Instead of a perspective that sees the whole person and the simple holistic effect of marijuana, a myopic and reductionistic method of measurement has been employed, and marijuanas profound meaning for health has been lost. (p. 31)

Marijuana, by its effect on the ANS, enhances both sides of the brain. Through increased Sympathetic action, left brain perception is heightened, while, at the same time, right brain reception is enhanced. This is a physiological fact. More blood, and cleaner blood, is sent to the brain, as in the fight or flight reaction. And because of Parasympathetic dilation of capillaries, which signifies relaxation, the blood supply to the entire brain is increased. More blood means more oxygen and consequently clearer and broader thinking. Since marijuana works on both sides of the brain, the most noticeable effect, in our fast-paced mind set, is one of slowing down, which blends the thrusting competitive attitude with the contrasting viewpoint of nurturance to arrive at a more cooperative balance. This experience is, however, not innate to marijuana, but to the mental set of the subject. When we are mellow, tired, and relaxed, marijuana is energizing and affords alertness, determination, and even strength. This variation in the physiological effects has caused great confusion from an eitheror framework. And the balancing nature of marijuana (bothand) has not been understood. It both stimulates and relaxes, simultaneously, which equates to an unpredictable variation in effect that is solely dependent on the state of its subject. When the system is sluggish, as with natives in warm climates (Africa, India, South America), marijuana has been used extensively and for centuries to energize it
A common practice among laborers... have a puff of a ganja (marijuana) pipe to produce well-being, relieve fatigue, stimulate appetite. (Chopra and Chopra, 1939, p.3)

When the system is hyper-aroused, as in todays lifestyle, marijuana calms. The significance of this fact cannot be ignored. It explains the increased creativity reported as a part of the marijuana experience, because when both sides of brain processes are heightened, both types of brain activity are greater. The left brain notices more, while the right brain receives more. This is the unification of logic and intuition. The term expansion of consciousness is explained physiologically as a shifting of brain emphasis from one-sidedness to balance (Sugarmena and Tarter, 1978), which fits precisely with the feeling called high. (p. 35)

Marijuana ingestion has been shown to change the worried state by producing alpha waves, experienced as well being. (p. 36)

When we ingest marijuana, the heart swells through capillary enhancement and is fueled more by more fully oxygenated blood, while, at the same time, its contractions and expansions are greater, allowing for stronger pumping action to the rest of the body (p. 37)

As rigidity in the body is released or reduced by the action of marijuana, there is a corresponding reduction of mental tension that translates into a feeling of expansion and well being and explains the reverential attitude commonly expressed by marijuana lovers. (p. 39)

As the bodys workings can become more harmonious with marijuana, the functioning of the five senses can be noticeably improved ....In our discussion, the trigger to the high experience is marijuana, but many other activities can also produce it, such as jogging, chanting, fasting, isolation, meditation, and prayer. (p. 41)

The marijuana experience itself does not miraculously cure. Instead, it allows the body a respite from the tensions of imbalance, while exposing the mental confusion of the mind. The marijuana experience of balance becomes a learned and, over time, somewhat permanent response as the essential human tendency to homeostasis is reawakened and the natural healing process restored. (p. 49)

For a serious psychosomatic disease such as cancer, the benefits to be derived from marijuana cannot be overstated 1. The causal element of unconscious (repressed) pain can be ferreted out. 2. The breath can be restored to fullness, thereby eliminating directly the built up toxicity and, at the same time, enjoining balance throughout the whole organism. A depressed system is a weakened system, and since it works holistically, marijuana gives strength where weakness exists, and expansion and relaxation where there is contraction and nervousness. 3. The more richly oxygenated blood that is in effect with marijuana can help to cleanse the poisons at the cellular level. 4. And a broader perspective through activation of the entire brain leads to positive feelings and thus eliminates the usual and debilitating attitudes so common in cancerhelplessness, depression, fear, resignation, and dread. (p. 60)

Application of Marijuana
In a Costa Rican study, it was found that chronic marijuana smokers who also smoked cigarettes were less likely to develop cancer than cigarette smokers who didnt use marijuana. Since marijuana (smoking, as well as ingestion by other methods) dilates the alveoli, toxins are more easily eliminated with cannabis use regardless of its method of application. Nicotine, on the other hand, constricts the alveoli, so it is likely that the use of cannabis neutralizes, or even overwhelms the constriction, by its own tendency to dilation ...As an aid for all psychosomatic disease, marijuana can benefit the participant, generally because of its health-restoring effects...The fear of marijuana... stems from its limitless potential for treating illness, in that both the pharmaceutical industry and the medical monopoly would lose billions of dollars if marijuana became the non-drug of choice.(p. 61)

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
When we balance the Autonomic Nervous System, there is an effect on the mind that is both energizing and relaxing SIMULTANEOUSLY. In other words, we can think more clearly and more efficiently.

The following are excerpts fromThe Benefits of Marijuana
Natural feelings of expansion that correspond to favorable perceptions, such as a sense of accomplishment, are experiences common to us all, What makes marijuana unique and beneficial is its ability to summon these states of well-being at will (p. 44) We might suggest that those hundreds of millions of people around the world who face marijuana to experience higher levels of life, do so specifically because of the great import they ascribe to being  high, i.e., feeling better, happier, more expansive, and therefore more tolerant and compassionate. (p. 4545)

Whereas marijuana results in an altered state of consciousness, the depressant drugs have been described as producing altered states of unconsciousness (Sugerman and Tarter), allowing for relaxation without awareness. (p.45)

Marijuana exposes things. When used over a period of time, it allows us to witness our many subtle motives which, under normal consciousness, are usually not noticeable. (p 46)

It was just this catalytic effect of marijuana to expose the unconscious and increase the patients vulnerability, while maintaining awareness and understanding that prompted psychologists (in the 1960s and 1970s) to utilize marijuana extensively in the therapeutic studies before the government ban (P. 47)

With the expansiveness that occurs with marijuana, the subject may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of hisher life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope, which of itself can be curative. (p. 49)

Marijuana can act as the loosening agent, so that whatever has been banned from consciousness may come cascading forth. To uncover our deceptions without our usual rationalizations can be unpleasant, an experience that has turned many psychologically fragile individuals away from marijuana despite its therapeutic catharsis. (p. 50)

Regardless of the model used, marijuana resolves conflict by de-emphasizing extreme aggressiveness and stroking the receptive sides of human nature. This unification or balance, however, may be responsible for changes in goals and values. It Is the healthy balancing nature of marijuana that is most beneficial to the individual and most threatening to modern society. (p. 51)

When it first became popular in the West, marijuana was imported mainly from tropical zones, where the sativa strain of cannabis is indigenous. This type of marijuana is known for its cerebral high, having little noticeable body participation. No studies concerning the different effects of sativa vs. indica have been done, but from the lack of physical sensation, it is reasonable to assume more Sympathetic or stimulant qualities in sativa than indica (a cooler climate type). This is compatible with the notion that in hotter climates, less calming is desirable from a recreational substance, since hot climates in themselves cause lethargy. Many connoisseurs of marijuana prefer the sativa high, although in the last decade it has become very scarce due to domestic cultivation of strains that thrive in temperate zones (and indoors). Cerebral highs are experienced as lightness of thought beyond usual concern with self esteem. In relationships, a cerebral high attunes the participants to a less separate sense of themselves. Conversation is animated and a general feeling of camaraderie is in the air.

The indica strain of cannabis offers more of the body high. Depth rather than height best describes the subjective experience. Rather than freedom in the mind, the felt sensation is freedom of the body. This state more closely mimics deep relaxation. Thought patterns do not approach the clarity of thought of a cerebral high. In contrast, the body high is similar to the reverie that precedes sleep. While thinking may be diminished, more sensitivity to nonverbal experiences, such as music and color, comes into play. Physiologically, a true body high probably is the result of more Parasympathetic input. Participants ofen become quieter, since internal silence predominates.

Indica thrives in temperate areas, and as such it has become more popular with the American marijuana farmer. It is a shorter variety, thus it is more suited for the limits of indoor gardens and comes to fruition earlier in outdoor gardens. In less tropical zones, recreational substances are compatible with tempering the bustle usual to cooler climate cultures. As horticultural interest has grown, a cross between the indica and sativa species of cannabis has given the modern marijuana user the subtleties of both strains. Nowadays quality marijuana, grown in the US, is usually a hybrid of the indica and sativa varieties. (p. 56)

Marijuana will not tolerate repression. Tranquilizers and depressants relax the body and release tension, but the state of mind associated with these drugs is unconsciousness whereby we escape rather than resolve our dilemmas. Alcoholism is an extreme need of both the body and personality periodically to release the nervousness that has accumulated and continues to accumulate to an unbearable degree. It serves the same function for the collective personality for the society, as well A culture in which alcohol and tranquilizers are the prevalent form of release prefers not to witness internal confusion and actually choose to act without conscious participation, maintaining a semi-numb condition. (p. 56)

SPIRITUAL BENEFITS
That which enlivens is understood as the SPIRIT. In these times of secular values, when the life force is not recognized as being an expression of the holy, when in fact, the notion of a plane of existence beyond the material is not acknowledged, the search for meaning nevertheless perseveres.

Today, in these darkest of times, hundreds of millions who pursue the journey inward to the universal core values, find that marijuana facilitates the search. As a religious sacrament, intuitively recognized by all for whom the sacred beckons, marijuana has been employed for thousands of years, crossing all geographical and ethnic barriers. Marijuana not only balances the body, and enhances our mental processes, it can also help (some of) us to perceive the abiding reality by raising our consciousness.

The following are excerpts fromThe Benefits of Marijuana

Meditation Is the ultimate tool for self-knowledge In the East, marijuana has been used to facilitate the process for millennia. (p.47)

The uncovering of inner confusion, so prominent with marijuana, is conspicuously absent with depressants. As the overall benefits of insightfulness obtained from its use lead to a greater freedom, marijuana is shunned by individuals who need a status quo in the personality or social position. Sigmund Freud developed and expounded the understanding that we mechanically base our actions on programs devised throughout life, and many esoteric schools, ancient and modern, have taught the same. Being aware of these programs is very difficult since ordinary consciousness has within it the conspiracy to keep the mind comfortable and free of conflict This operates collectively as well as individually. Whenever confronted, this usual state of mind automatically assumes a defensive posture by relying on distorted rationalizations, which are evident in a repressive and intolerant social order. By contrast, the open and aware consciousness often leads to spiritual realizations, irrelevant in mainstream thinking. In todays world, this understanding is uncommon. Higher morals and ethics, as propounded by organized religions, are agreed upon by the masses, especially during church attendance, but are otherwise too difficult to maintain when personal survival is at stake. Universal spiritual values, so often released with marijuana, can break down the conditioned defensive mentality. It appears as if society, as well as the programmed, individual mind, needs to hold in check the notion that we love our neighbor as ourselves. There is no way that we can love our neighbor as ourselves, nor any way that our economy can subscribe to a policy of cooperation, when the very life of business enterprise is dependent upon profit first and foremost. Cooperation within free enterprise is a difficult reality so long as me first remains the primary motivation. A neurotic society, with its deeply imbedded habit of maladaptive coping methods, is resistant to change. Marijuana can be of tremendous benefit in exposing the distorted perspectives responsible for social, class, and racial conflict It can open the doors of perception, and thereby after the very core of the personality, by allowing a view of the transcendent values of human life. (p. 57)

In the area of private values, marijuana may offer benefits beyond the personal ego, which reach the dimension referred to by mystics and saints as the ever-present now. The experience addresses states of consciousness not common to the common man and resembles Maslows peak experience. (p. 65)

To ascend the ladder of consciousness, human beings need as much help as they can get. Levels of consciousness above concerns of personal survival and power are neither necessary for human life, nor visible from ordinary states. Because these higher degrees of awareness threaten the power structure, all paths to them are often outlawed. If we are not taught by some older, wiser person that deep and timeless perceptions really exist (or unless we ourselves fortuitously catch a glimpse of these subjective realities), we remain ignorant of their existence and are easily molded into the lower social goals of materialism, competition, and power. This less enlightened state is expressed by a constant gnawing dissatisfaction. It is the dimension of perennial desire. With each fulfillment of a goal need  want, another void erupts. In Buddhism, it is the realm of nightmarish, insatiable hunger, which cannot be resolved unless or until the being attains to a less self-centered level. Deep within each of us, an essential need for a higher meaning of life waits to be awakened. Because of its ability to unlock this yearning and allow us a glimpse of the deeper reality, marijuana is feared by the establishment and loved by the user. (p. 66)

It is mainly because spiritual values are abandoned during eras of materialism that marijuana is banned today. And, ironically, it is because these values are so absent in the modern culture that the marijuana experience is so ardently sought. (P. 67)

Perhaps investigation into the higher human values could not surface in the industrial West until all imaginable physical, psychological, and social dysfunction reached dangerous proportions. (p. 67)

The Christian mystic de Chardin, explaining this same process, says, physical energy must be mastered and grounded for spiritual energy to move, because physical energy transforms the spirit. (Ferguson) Within the deep recesses of human understanding, the intuitive faculty steers its course. For many who are in touch with this sixth sense, the realm of the spirit is supreme. Anything that demonstrates a possibility for psychospiritual uplifting is known to be sacred. Marijuana is so recognized and revered. Bhang brings union with the Divine Spirit. (Indian Hemp Commission) (p. 69)

Through balance, with time and interest, marijuana can enliven the Center of Knowing. In the Theory of Vibration, this is the sixth level of development known as the Knowledge Center. What we refer to as the sixth sense, or intuition, derives from this esoteric symbol, which very often is depicted as a third eye, located at the midbrow. (p. 71)

As we have seen, many an argument against marijuana refers to the non-competitive nature it engenders. During the Vietnam War, one of the major problems of our soldiers was their inability to accept the brutality of their own actions. Our young men encountered marijuana at every turn in Asia (the Vietnam War was the beginning of marijuana use in this country, since it was the first time a status and educational cross section of America was exposed to it), and their reaction was often not in keeping with the insensitivity necessary for war. Their conscience bothered them. Gaining higher values, such as compassion, cooperation, and consideration, is a function of balance and a threat to a militaristic society. If we all became aware of our conscience, who would be left to maintain the indifference of the social order. The more we uncover the spiritual element in our natures, the more sensitive we become. Scrooge had no conscience until he experienced the spirit He was surely happier and healthier after his vision, but not wealthier, for his conscience dictated that he share. His new-felt sensitivity did not result from rules, fear, or his superego. It overflowed joyfully as an expression of his higher state of being. Marijuanas contribution to the developing spirit is cumulative. As bodily tensions are reduced mental fears dissolve, clearing the way to greater insight But, until the direct effect (physical balance) of marijuana on the body and the attendant side effect (high) of marijuana on the mind become familiar, the alterations themselves remain the focus of interest The getting high is the end in itself, rather than the understanding and insight that accrues a s the changed set becomes more a common. People who try marijuana and reject it do so usually because they feel uncomfortable and confused in altered, fuller consciousness. Instead of life being safely framed by the rigidity of the societal dogma, the wold becomes unfamiliarly bigger, brighter, fuller, yet less manageable, more unpredictable and full of mystery. A mind that has been bound and accustomed to a low charge or a selling without light very often finds the expansiveness of reality too highly energized. The light can be blinding and disorienting. Over time, and with regular intake, when these higher states of seeing are no longer the focal point of attention, a restructuring of values may emerge. (p. 72)

The war on drugs is an expensive battle, as a great deal of resources go into catching those who buy or sell illegal drugs on the black market, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. These costs seem particularly exorbitant when dealing with the drug marijuana, as it is widely used, and is likely no more harmful than currently legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. Theres another cost to the war on drugs, however, which is the revenue lost by governments who cannot collect taxes on illegal drugs. In a recent studyfor the Fraser Institute, Economist Stephen T. Easton attempted to calculate how much tax revenue the Canadian government could gain by legalizing marijuana.

Marijuana Legalization and the Revenue From Marijuana Sales
The study estimates that the average price of 0.5 grams (a unit) of marijuana sold for 8.60 on the street, while its cost of production was only 1.70. In a free market, a 6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana would not last for long. Entrepreneurs noticing the great profits to be made in the marijuana market would start their own grow operations, increasing the supply of marijuana on the street, which would cause the street price of the drug to fall to a level much closer to the cost of production. Of course, this doesnt happen because the product is illegal the prospect of jail time deters many entrepreneurs and the occasional drug bust ensures that the supply stays relatively low. We can consider much of this 6.90 per unit of marijuana profit a risk-premium for participating in the underground economy. Unfortunately, this risk premium is making a lot of criminals, many of whom have ties to organized crime, very wealthy.

Legalized Marijuana Profits to the Government
Stephen T. Easton argues that if marijuana was legalized, we could transfer these excess profits caused by the risk-premium from these grow operations to the government

If we substitute a tax on marijuana cigarettes equal to the difference between the local production cost and the street price people currently pay--that is, transfer the revenue from the current producers and marketers (many of whom work with organized crime) to the government, leaving all other marketing and transportation issues aside we would have revenue of (say) 7 per unit. If you could collect on every cigarette and ignore the transportation, marketing, and advertising costs, this comes to over 2 billion on Canadian sales and substantially more from an export tax, and you forego the costs of enforcement and deploy your policing assets elsewhere.

Marijuana Supply and Demand
One interesting thing to note from such a scheme is that the street price of marijuana stays exactly the same, so the quantity demanded should remain the same as the price is unchanged. However, its quite likely that the demand for marijuana would change from legalization. We saw that there was a risk in selling marijuana, but since drug laws often target both the buyer and the seller, there is also a risk (albeit smaller) to the consumer interested in buying marijuana. Legalization would eliminate this risk, causing the demand to rise. This is a mixed bag from a public policy standpoint Increased marijuana use can have ill effects on the health of the population but the increased sales bring in more revenue for the government. However, if legalized, governments can control how much marijuana is consumed by increasing or decreasing the taxes on the product. There is a limit to this, however, as setting taxes too high will cause marijuana growers to sell on the black market to avoid excessive taxation.

When considering legalizing marijuana, there are many economic, health, and social issues we must analyze. One economic study will not be the basis of Canadas public policy decisions, but Eastons research does conclusively show that there are economic benefits in the legalization of marijuana. With governments scrambling to find new sources of revenue to pay for important social objectives such as health care and education expect to see the idea raised in Parliament sooner rather than later.

An Open Letter to the President, Congress, Governors, and State Legislatureson the benefits of legalizing marijuana. Friedman isnt the only well known economist to sign the letter, it was also signed by Nobel Laureate George Akerlof and other notable economists including Daron Acemoglu of MIT, Howard Margolis of the University of Chicago, and Walter Williams of George Mason University.

The letter reads as follows
We, the undersigned, call your attention to the attached report by Professor Jeffrey A. Miron, The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. The report shows that marijuana legalization -- replacing prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation -- would save 7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least 2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods. If, however, marijuana were taxed similarly to alcohol or tobacco, it might generate as much as 6.2 billion annually.

The fact that marijuana prohibition has these budgetary impacts does not by itself mean prohibition is bad policy. Existing evidence, however, suggests prohibition has minimal benefits and may itself cause substantial harm.

We therefore urge the country to commence an open and honest debate about marijuana prohibition. We believe such a debate will favor a regime in which marijuana is legal but taxed and regulated like other goods. At a minimum, this debate will force advocates of current policy to show that prohibition has benefits sufficient to justify the cost to taxpayers, foregone tax revenues, and numerous ancillary consequences that result from marijuana prohibition.

I highly recommend anyone interested in the topic to read Mirons reporton marijuana legalization, or at the very least see the executive summary. Given the high number of people who are incarcerated each year for marijuana offences and the high cost of housing prisoners, the 7.7 billion in expected savings seems like a reasonable figure, though I would like to see estimates produced by other groups.

The humble beginnings of Festus Claudius Claude McKay emanated in Jamaica, West Indies where his parents Hannah Ann Elizabeth Edwards and Thomas Francis McKay were considered well-to-do farmers. They had enough properties in order to be qualified for voting. His first school was at the age of four in a church where he attended. He lived with his older brother at seven. His brother owned a library of huge number of books encompassing science, poetry and novels. This was considered his best opportunity for education at that time. The library triggered his enthusiasm in reading and writing. At ten, he eventually showed his writing prowess and indicated his interest in British literature, theology and science.

It is indeed undeniable how his brothers home became an initial arena in discovering his writing potentials. However, it was only in 1907 when the real inspiration for honing Claudes talent came in. Walter Jekyll was his first inspiration and mentor. His encouragement to Claude made the latter concentrate on writing using his own dialect and even set his writings as lyrics to music. In 1912, Claude, with the help of Jekyll, was able to publish his first book entitled Songs of Jamaica. The book was a remarkable work of literature in Jamaican history as it became the very first poems which were printed in English words anchored on firm African structure called Patois. In the same year, Claude published his next volume known as the Constab Ballads which talked about his experiences as a Jamaican police officer. His writing journey continued as his education went on when he enrolled in the Tuskegee Institute. As a Jamaican, the primary problem which he had to face was the social concern on racism which he greatly felt when he was in South Carolina. His encounter with discrimination was very evident in the literal segregation of public facilities. His disappointment in the social system implemented in South Carolina made him transfer to University of Kansas State. After a while, he went to New York and married Eulalie Lewars.

Having to raise a family, he worked as a waiter on the railways but he did not forget about his passion for writing. He wrote his two poems in 1917 entitled the Seven Arts with Eli Edwards as his pen name. Two years later, he worked with Max and Crystal Eastman as Co-Executive editor in the production The Liberator. His poem If We Must Die is anchored on the issue on severe racial discrimination and violence that thrived in most Anglo-American Societies. This poem also indicated the beginning of role as a professional writer. His opposition to racism made him involved with the black radicals who also expressed their grievance over nationalism advocated by Marcus Garvey. Along the context of socialism, Claude and his group fought for self-determination for the black leading to the formation of African Blood Brotherhood, a revolutionary organization. He then wrote the Negro World but this did not earn much recognition as few copies proliferated and survived. Claimed to have been the first paid black journalist in the land of Britain, Claude began his journalistic career by chance. His main intention was to have his response to E.D. Morels article on black severe hypersexuality also known as Black Scourge in Europe Sexual Horror Let Loose published in a newspaper but was declined the chance. He found an opportunity from the Workers Dreadnought where his regular involvement earned him his salary as a journalist. His political involvement also furthered when he joined the international communist congress in Moscow.

For the next years, Claude was able to make a strong struggle to improve his mastery of the prose fiction. Hew tried to write one novel which was entitle the Color Scheme which he then described as a satire that constrained black novelists. It was then that American publishers refused his work for sexual frankness, uneven in quality and explicit language. In his despair, he burned the novel. Upon the encouragement of a friend Harper, he expanded his short stories into a novel. His next masterpiece was known as Home to Harlem, which was in time during the peak of the Harlem Renaissance or what was dubbed as the New Negro Period.

The novel was able to clearly depict the working class composed of blacks. It reaped both positive and negative commentaries. Home to Harlem became a pivotal ally in the battle and advocacy for Afro-American freedom in America through literary masterpieces. The novel further became inspirations to youthful writers at that tie including Langston Hughes.

Claude McKays contribution to the Afro-American literature freedom has highlighted the New Negro Movement in which the blooming of the intellectual and literary aspects of black society fostered the creation of new black identity. Indeed, it was a chance for the black community to seize moment of self-determination and expression.

After this breakthrough in the black community which Claude was a primary agent in achieving, he wrote more novels including the Banjo and the Banana Bottom. Both were known to have advocated for maltreatment experienced by the black people in other communities including the French society. He also authored Gingertown, A Long Way Home, and My Green Hills of Jamaica.

Claude McKay may have been misunderstood by many American critics and other conservative Africans who viewed his works in extreme exaggeration of expression. However, the lighter side of his life managed to earn the respect and admiration of other younger budding writers during his time. As anything good or bad must come to and end, Claude McKay died in 1948 at 59. Before his death from a heart attack, Claude McKay embraced the religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

If We Must Die
The poem is a clear depiction of the conflict between the white and the black in the American society. A powerful piece as it is, If We Must Die was a mirror of how racial discrimination was then enslaving the black community. The poem is also a clear depiction of Claude McKays dream of having a noble form of death  that is something not likened to the hogs that were hunted and penned. His anger to the white has been embodied in symbolic figures which he used in the poem such as the terms mad and hungry dogs and the monsters we defy.

The poem is an encouragement of his fellow black men and all members of the black community to work together in one aim against racial conflicts. He further recognizes their being outnumbered in the community as whites are generally greater in number especially in the states where he stayed including South Carolina. He stated how the white Americans have caused pains and sufferings a thousand times and how he wanted to avenge in just one deathblow.

Moreover, Claude McKay insinuated the need for the black community to fight back and grab what they are entitled as human beings. In the poem, McKay showed acceptance of their fate yet he was firm for his desire to change their fate as slaves. It was clear how he further identified the battle for justice as a more difficult task. And the only armor to win the battle is bravery to defend them against inequality in the society.

America
America is Claude McKays portrayal of his life and the black communities way of existence in the United States where racial discrimination was a deadly societal concern during his time. He described how this land made his life miserable by using images of tigers tooth and bread of bitterness. McKay made use of good word choices, rhyme, rhythm and imagery. His utilization of figurative language made readers creative an imaginative yet horrifying picture of the land described in the poem.

Technically, he used the iambic pentameter to make the poem sound and seem Shakespearean with a rhythm scheme of a b a b c d c d e f e f g g. The tome shifts from anger and incrimination to gratitude and appreciation. It was in the first lines when McKay described how horrible it was for a black like him to live in America that gives him nothing but bitterness and pain. As the lines go one, he expressed how he loved America no matter how blinded it was with colors.

The poem reflected McKays intervention to social stratification as he took it as nothing but source of courage and hope against hate. He became a picture of emulation for his kinsmen to move forward despite the odds of their skin color.

McKays creativity and writing prowess was then revealed as he made use of personification in highlighting the subject America creating a picture of her as a caring and loving mother yet sometimes, harsh and bitter. His use of the lines she feeds me bread of bitterness and vigor flows like tides into my blood depicted mother providing nourishment either by hand or by the breast.

John Kennedy Tooles novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, is well regarded throughout literary circles and stands as Tooles defining work. The author was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction after the books publishing, but was not around to celebrate his triumph. The novel was not published until 1980, which came a full eleven years after the authors suicide in New Orleans. As an only child growing up in a privileged world in New Orleans, Toole received many advantages that he used to his own benefit. He was educated at both Tulane University and Columbia University, and was drafted into the United States Army, as well. He served some time there, and served other time as a professor at a local college upon his return. His suicide was thought to come after a dispute with his mother, and it was that woman that eventually helped to push A Confederacy of Dunces into widespread publication. Though the book was purely fictional in nature, it was inspired by some of the experiences that Toole had while in New Orleans. He was known for frequenting the French quarter and visiting with random musicians and other residents of that part of New Orleans. From those experiences came the genesis of the book, and it was Tooles attempt to accurately depict some of the things taking place in New Orleans during that time. Especially important was his depiction of some of the different races and cultures around the city, which is what brought about much of the acclaim for the work.

The book itself adheres well to the idea of monomyth, as put forth by Joseph Campbell. The protagonist in the story is Ignatius J. Reilly, who lives in his own subjective reality. The everyday world from which he is drawn to be a hero is one that is somewhat unassuming, if not pretentious. A review by Sharon Shulz-Elsing summed up the subjective reality from which this hero is drawn perfect in her review of the book. She writes, At the center of A Confederacy of Dunces is that contemptuous hypochondriac, that deadbeat ideologue, that gluttonous moocher Ignatius Reilly. A mountainous college graduate living off his mothers welfare check in her home on one of New Orleans seedy back streets. He spends most of his time waxing melodramatically philosophic, hiding out in the squalor of his bedroom, filling Big Chief writing tablets with his unique brand of Ludditemedievalistanti-Enlightenment thought and penning incendiary letters to his sex-crazed ex-college-girlfriend Myrna Minkoff (Shulz-Elsing, 2000). In this, the reader sees that the protagonist is drawn from a place where hes doing very little, essentially taking advantage of his situation and refusing to grow up as the world around him passes by.

For Ignatius, the call to adventure is one that comes randomly, like most within the monomyth. It begins with the character nearly being hauled to jail for no particular reason, and ends with he and his mother drunkenly crashing a car into a building. The need for money forces the character into his adventure, or more aptly, his misadventure that was to come. In this, the reader can see some an example of the refusal to take up the call.

The primary force pushing Ignatius toward the working world was his mother, and the character is very indifferent to the idea. He is content jotting notes and writing letters, while not utilizing his high-priced education. In a passive-aggressive manner that only Ignatius can show, he acts as if the work is beneath him and hopes that the question will go away. The supernatural encouragement that the character receives comes from a couple of different places. Though he does not receive a true helping hand from above in the traditional sense of the monomyth, he is pushed on by both a character and an overriding idea. He is encouraged by a woman named Miss Trixie at the Levy Pants plant where he works. Though Miss Trixie is senile and low-functioning, he enjoys her presence and looks forward to going to work. More importantly, he is motivated by the idea that he could do something with his life, which would finally convince his ex-girlfriend that he has been a success. This is the driving force behind many of the protagonists actions, and it serves as his supernatural assistance in that regard.

In terms of crossing the threshold, this story is full of examples that might be used. Because it is such a fast-paced and complicated work of fiction, there are many areas that might be identified as a part of the monomyth that Joseph Campbell highlighted. Still, it is probably not true that the work falls directly into the monomythic circle, as certain events happen multiple times and the plot does not stick to the exactly prescribed script. One portion of the story where the protagonist may cross the threshold is when he is first fired from his job at Levy Pants. This is yet another example of his own failure, and it confirms for many people that the character might have a screw loose. The failure of his initial social activist movement also pushes him forward and motivates him to try new things and even more ridiculous quests. Because of how important this event was for shaping the characters future, it could be the important threshold that Campbell was speaking of.

Ignatius enters the belly of the beast when he first gets mixed up with Dorian and forms his radical political party. His goal of social activism had officially jumped the shark at that point, and his quest to work to pay off his mothers bills had been replaced by the quest for some sort of significance. Because the jobs he was working were so remedial when compared to his education, he was looking for something more. He found it in his degenerate political activism. The complicated and seedy nature of Ignatiuss new life is something described in a review by Ben Granger. He writes, Tooles invigorating prose breathes into this rabble a convincing life, as well as the surrounding cast of crooks, gays, lesbians, black factory workers, and the everyday inhabitants of a gruff, crumbling and seedy New Orleans. His descriptive powers flow graphically and beautifully, and he also knows how to string together a multi-layered narrative too (Granger).

The trials faced by Ignatius were many, including his firing from the first job, his near arrest, his new and embarrassing job as a hot dog salesman and many more marks against him. Additionally, he ends up in the hospital and is the primary cause of three lesbians assaulting a police officer. When the thoughts and feelings of his mother are thrown into the mix with all of this, it created quite a bit to overcome for the character, which is what makes the story so inherently interesting. One thing that is interesting is that in all of Ignatiuss misadventures, he finally finds the love that is spoken about in the monomyth model. His old ex-girlfriend, Myrna Minkoff, shows up at his door at the time that he needs her the most, which acts as a very important part of the story. This is something of a reclamation for Ignatius, and in his strange mind, it justifies many of the crazy things that he had done up to that point. Additionally, this is where the story takes its turn with women acting as the temptress. Ignatius attempts an escape, and his life becomes much more complicated as a direct result of Myrna showing up. She helps to motivate him to take the crazy step of fleeing, and he has a renewed sense of adventure as a result of her being there with him.

This portion of the story acts as its climax, as its second turning point, and truly as its rescue scene. Though there is no atonement with the father, it is replaced by atonement with a jilted ex-lover, and with all that Ignatius had been searching for. Because all of his actions had been done to attract Myrna back into his life, having her show up was the biggest thing that could have possibly happened for him. It was the satisfaction and the proper ending for the story to complete this unique version of the monomyth. Their escape leaves the story open-ended, however, which does not provide the reader with any sense of closure on what happened with all of the different twists and turns. Additionally, this presents the possibility that more craziness was probably on the way for both Ignatius and Myrna, which is something that many critical reviewers have felt was the intention of the author when he initially wrote the story.

This story is interesting because it provides a very interesting look at a socioeconomic trend taking place in New Orleans at that time. Ignatius should have had advantages. He was well educated, but the only thing forcing he and his mother into poverty was laziness. This is a sector of society that is not usually explored, as most people who fall into that category do so because they have many inherent disadvantages holding them back. In this story, the author employs an important motif of underachievement. That is to say that Ignatius was not making anything of himself, even though he had as many chances as any person could possibly want in order to do so. On reviewer named Daniel Weiss summed up this book quite poignantly when he said, Like his creator, who committed suicide in 1969, Ignatius never finds his place in the modern world (Weiss). Through all of his struggles, Ignatius never truly finds what he is looking for, though the book does leave open the possibility for greater mishaps and misadventures in the future, this time with his girl by his side.

I. Part one Topic
a) Dickey as iconoclastic writer who critiqued civilisation from the standpoint of an outsider
b) Critical controversy around confessionalism obscures artistic and existential greatness (Oates)
c) Existential discomfort in reader leads to openness to critique
d) Thesis Dickeys poetry derives its power from human tendency to descend and ascend, or die and be reborn
e) Escape from mechanized and alienating existence in natural world, place of spiritual becoming Dickeys goal is to help humans experience existence in a natural, restorative, bodily way
f) Movement into nature is descent, while rebirth from out of nature is ascent

II.  Part two Elaboration of topic
Descent into naturedeath
Descent comprehends primitivism, animals and communion with nature, while ascent comprehends violence of rebirth, religious theme of resurrection and ur-human evolution
Primitivism and the shockingly bizarre images (Bobbit) that enact critique of civilisation sheep child
Shock of Falling which enacts merger with nature (Applewhite) Falling shows violence and transcendence of descent into nature
Nakedness and spiritual evolution Falling and Springer Mountain
Animals The Heaven of Animals and Approaching Prayer Dickey both depicts animals in their natural habitat and shows human-animal merger, which leads to illumination
Communion with nature integration of human and nature in Trees and Cattle flourishing and violence of rebirth transition to ascent

Ascentrebirth
Concept of resurrection transforms and thus critiques a concept of western civilisation, and offers a model of simultaneous spiritual and bodily rebirth recovery of individual relationship to God
ii. Ur-human (Hill) and Walking on Water narrators communion with nature invests him with superhuman powers, representing the infinite expansion and rebirth of his human self

III. Part three Conclusion and Thesis Outline
Chapter one overview of topic, expansion of part one
Chapter two human primitivism, nakedness and violence, and critique of civilisation
Chapter three animals, both totemic representations and human-animal merging
Chapter four communion with naturerebirth
Chapter five relationship between violence and rebirth
Chapter six concept of resurrection
Chapter seven achievement of ur-human powers through communion with nature
Final chapter synthesis, comprehensive picture of Dickeys critique, and his notion of subtlety of mind

In short stories and novels, journeys usually serve as tests on which characters embark and through which they realize their destiny as well as limits. Neddy Merrills journey back home through swimming is a form of holy pilgrimage for him, which would allow him to move through life with no bag or baggage, no attachment or connection with the world he thought he knew so well. Neddys descent into the public pool is as much significant in his journey as that in the private pools, as it signifies an important constituent of his realizations.

Neddy starts off at his neighbours pool i.e., Westerhazys pool, which is interconnected with 15-16 other pools, one of which is his - the destination he is headed towards. However, what starts as an adventure turns into a phantasmagoria, as the journey begins to look strange and tedious he ends up in a dry pool and then a public one. This transition shows that his adventure wont be as safe, predictable, and familiar as he perceived it to be. In fact, it would lead him through unfamiliar and often perilous terrains, so that he is able to view the lifestyle of his class from a detached distance in order to realize its emptiness and deceptive quality. Thus, when Neddy ends up in a public pool, like a snob he is afraid that he might contaminate himselfdamage his own prosperousness and charmby swimming in this murk (608). He then reminds himself that he was an explorer, a pilgrim, and that this was merely a stagnant bend in the Lucinda River (608). However, when he is shouted out of the public pool by the guards for not wearing an identification disk, Neddy realizes that his affluence and social class have protected him from the realities of lower class existence and its realities so far.

In the zeal of being an explorer, he forgets the fact that in the public sphere he is not known by his social standing i.e., the Neds and he needs the social trapping of an identity card or a social security number. Thus, Lucinda River, with its private and public bents, shows contrasting variedness of life in America, the gap between classes. It is also a time travelling device, signifying the movement of time unrelenting, fast, overlapping, confusing. The waters movement provides a swift transition from realism to surrealism. As the water turns murky in contrast to the gleam of the private pools, the reality of perfect, narcissist and luxurious suburban world, and the materialism of the American dream seem to unveil. According to Donaldson, the Marxist version of the story shows that the modern American society is largely socially stratified and unhappy despite the abundance of backyard private pools (202).

Mrs. Ramsays character has been defined as the epicentre of the novel To the Lighthouse because it holds everything and everyone elses character together. She is the third stroke of the light house long and deep enduring but not invasive, guiding and benevolent. There is an immediacy and intensity about her. There are unique spiritual, emotional, and social dimensions to her character, which give her a memorable, well-rounded and fascinating quality. Through the use of the stream of consciousness method, Mrs. Ramsays character has been defined in details that are graphic, accurate and vivid, making her stand out among other characters. By displaying the numerous sides to her personality, Woolf attempts to approach Mrs. Ramsay from many sides, as closely as human possibilities of perception and expression can succeed in doing (Panken 149).

Through the character of Mrs. Ramsay, Woolf has successfully rendered the essential quality of the female experience, modes of thoughts and comprehensions, and how they are different from the male version. Thus, Mrs. Ramsay is representative of a distinct type of intellect, based on a different form of truth one that is far more enduring and comforting than the factual and scientific form of truth that Mr. Ramsay represents. She represents the knowledge of the heart, it was not knowledge but unity that she desired, not inscriptions on tablets, nothing that could be written in any language known to men, but intimacy itself (79). She is accused of ignoring factual knowledge by her husband when she tells James, her son, that perhaps the weather would be better the next day and they could go to the lighthouse after all. Unlike her Mr. Ramsay, she believes in the healing power of truth, hope, faith, promise, and comfort for the human spirit, which gets vexed and exhausted easily. She understands that human beings dont need truth to live but only to function in life. As a mother, she feels that a child doesnt need to be fed cold and calculated facts all the time, heshe needs nurturing, encouragement, and imagination. She feels that childhood is special and magical, and children should remain children as long as they can. However, this doesnt make her impractical or an escapist, because she has also been described as a bird in her intuition and like an arrow in her directness of hitting upon the facts. Her simplicity fathomed what clever people falsified (46), this shows that her unpretentious nature made others trust her easily and confide in her.

In the backdrop of a depressing war, she also provides a welcoming home to her guests and takes care of their needs. Be it the often distant Carmichael or the socially awkward and bitter Tansley, she attempts to bring out the best in them and makes their stay in her home as comfortable as possible. She offers to buy tobacco for Carmichael without hurting his dignity, as she is mindful of his modest means. In the same charitable and considerate vein, she is seen knitting a brown stocking for the ill son of the lighthouses keeper and sending him food and delicacies. She also chides her jealous children to be mindful of the ill kids plight. The dinner scene is crucial part in the novel, which displays her strength and art of bringing diverse elements together. The metaphor used to describe her mood is the ebb and flow of water. When she is tense and despondent at the prospect of the party not going well, the guests gathered around her table seem isolated and lifeless. She feels the artists burden and realizes that the whole of the effort of merging and flowing and creating rested on her (126). The cohesion of her vision and mood mends the disjointed fragments of these personalities together in one unified whole. Thus, as soon as her mood improves, order, peace, and harmony pervade through the dinner party. She believes in the need of creating cherished moments, as she realizes that nothing is durable in this world besides the memory one leaves behind. It is for this very reason her memory remains alive in the minds of those around her even when she is no more. Lily feels that Mrs. Ramsay died because she kept giving, giving and giving (223). Yet Mrs. Ramsay has an enduring quality, one that lives on despite her physical absence. She is a figure of solace and comfort not only for her children but also for her husband, as she provides them relief against their daily disappointments and irritations like a shady tree.

James, her son, aptlyfelt her rise in a rosey-flowered fruit tree laid with leaves and dancing with boughs (34).
Mrs. Ramsay regards gender roles in a fairly traditional mindset. Yet she sees womens vulnerability as their real strength. She has a comforting quality about her and believes that women are naturally superior to men due to their god-gifted quality of nurturing and soothing. She thinks that men should be taken within the circle of life, warmed and soothed.they must be furnished, they must be filled with life (59). She feels that the scope of mens duties related to statesmanship and money mangement leave them to be mentally exhausted and incapable of appreciating the tender and beautiful things in life hence, their minds and spirits should be replenished by womanly care. In fact, she pitied man, as she thought that they lacked something thus, she wants the whole of the whole of the other sex under her protection (129). Moreover, there is love between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay, even though their natures differ. She reveres her husband deeply she did not like, even for a second, to feel finer than her husband (61). Thus, they are the natural complement of each other, equal parts of a complete whole. Mr. Ramsey constantly seeks her love and reassurance. Thus, after her death, he feels lost and famished. Due to her own experience of domestic bliss, she feels that all must marry (77) and have children she also considers this notion to be a principle of life too.

Mrs. Ramsay draws strength from the presence of God. The fact that the universe that God has created often appears cruel, unjust, and turbulent doesnt deter her from believing also in Gods grace and mercy. In her moment of anguish, the lighthouse gives her faith and assurance and there, sure enough, coming regularly across the waves first two quick strokes and then one long steady stroke (94). She seeks to identify her being with the third stroke, as it embodies the values she cherishes such as truth and beauty, both of which are have an enduring quality. There have been lots of symbols used to describe Mrs. Ramsays character, such as light, water, bird, tree, etc. This makes the critics wonder if she is a human being or a symbol herself. However, the different facets of her characters, along with her vulnerabilities and moods, make her seem very human and remind us what it means to be human an exalted and supreme being.

Conclusively, Woolf has created memorable female characters such as, Mrs. Ramsay, Lily Briscoe, Mrs. Dalloway, Sally Seton, and Doris Kilman. Mrs. Ramsay has a serene and maternal quality that makes her stands out from the rest. She is termed as the happier Helen of our times (43) not because of her outer beauty but inner one.