Traits and Values Associated with Femininity in Antigone free essay sample

The conventionally accepted roles of both males and females in ancient Grecian society were well defined and manifested. Women were considered the weaker of the sexes and, thus, were expected to remain in the home and perform their domestic duties, while the men were to be rulers and bread-winners. The woman’s voice was not heard on any issues affecting the society as her opinions were thought unworthy of consideration. She was required merely to reproduce, to execute her domestic duties well and to submit incontestably to the authority of the men. In essence the Greeks valued their women almost as little as a common slave was valued. These values and traits associated with femininity in ancient Grecian societies are demonstrated throughout Sophocles mythical account of a woman of Thebes named Anigone. He however recognized that these beliefs about women were not representative of how women of ancient Greece were and thus highlighted the strength and importance of the role of women in Grecian society through his epic poem, proving that despite popular ancient Grecian beliefs, women were as strong and courageous as men and were prepared to face the consequences of actions they believed to be honourable. We will write a custom essay sample on Traits and Values Associated with Femininity in Antigone or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All women were not foolish and blindly submissive. Though mythical, this traditional story provides some insight into the goings on of Grecian society as myths, as stated by Moya K. Mason, â€Å"often include some basic beliefs about life, society, and what roles men and women play in a culture. † Generally, women in ancient Greece were deemed powerless, incompetent and possessors of insufficient intellect. According to James Thompson, B. A. , M. Ed. , women were thought to be the lesser important of the sexes and not much more intelligent than the average child. Many of the Greek writers of this time portrayed women as strong emotionally but mentally weak. Thus they were seen as unfit to be leaders and considered as candidates for constant protection from themselves and others were to be protected against them. A system knows as the Guardian was developed to manage this supposed negative quality in women (Thompson, par. 2). The emotional nature of a woman was assumed to be an undesirable quality for leadership. Consequently, men had the upper hand in the affairs within the home and the community at large as their perceived impassive nature was thought to be an ideal quality of a leader. They were the ones who drafted laws and made decisions single-handedly, though these laws ultimately affected the entire population of that particular Grecian community. Even as children, females were less valued than their male counterparts and, therefore, were not allowed to attend school. Formal training was regarded as necessary for them since ultimately their contributions to society would only be domestic. Formal schooling was reserved for boys who would need to be educated and intelligent enough to make judicious decisions as future leaders. Ironically, despite being thought of as ignorant and helpless, women were regarded as crafty and cunning, and able to contrive the evilest of deeds. It was thought that it was in the nature of a woman to be evil. A vengeful persona was considered an undesirable quality in women and was deeply unappreciated but was a glorified quality in men. Also it seemed that ancient Greek males were allowed to flirt and have several extramarital sexual affairs while, except for the goddesses, women were expected to remain chaste. A man was given right, by law to kill on the spot any man he found having sex with his wife or any other woman closely related to him (such as his mother or daughter). Under the aforementioned guardianship a man was thought to have ownership over his wife. As soon as she became his wife she was placed under his watch and control. Before her marriage, each woman living in ancient Greece was under the guardianship of her father or one of her close blood male relatives who controlled every aspect of her life. Except for inexpensive items, she could not â€Å"buy anything own property or enter into contracts† (Thompson, par 3). Property ownership could only be achieved through gifts, dowry and inheritance. The most important role of women in ancient Greece, especially married women, was considered to be the production of lawful children and the execution if household chores. Also she was required to literally remain inside the home, except she was attending a special event as in those days women found in the streets were either assumed to be enslaved, a harlot, a concubine or a woman who had to find work outside of the home because of poverty (Thompson, par. 8). It was also considered respectable for a woman to remain out of sight and audible range when the man of the house had guests. Evidently, women of ancient Greece were subjected to what modern day women may consider harsh and unfair treatment as a result of some irrational beliefs and practices that were given judicial recognition. Because of fear of facing the consequences that may arise from contesting these laws, many women living during that period made no attempt to do so. So they remained as they were considered to be – weak and helpless – because of fear. Sophocles’ mythical anecdote of Antigone, however, shows the apparently unseen characteristics of women, though not all women, in ancient Greece. They were not as weak, helpless and unwise as they were believed to have been but were strong willed individuals, possessing strong characters and competent of making sound decisions. The main character, Antigone, was one of the first women in history recorded to have broken this trend of the submissive woman and defied the invincible authority of man. Her sister Ismene, however, is portrayed as how women were traditionally believed to be – submissive and weak. Sophocles’ epic poem shows how Greek society, particularly men, at that time valued and regarded their female citizens. Male chauvinists and how they stereotyped females are represented by the tyrannical king of Thebes, Creon. Antigone’s character symbolized the brave, vehement, woman who was courageous enough to do what she felt was right despite the consequences; Ismene represented the submissive woman who would take no part in defying the laws of Creon regardless of how unjust they were as she viewed her duty as being to honour the decrees of the land. Throughout the poem many of Antigone’s actions demonstrate her gallantry as a woman who would not allow the fear of being punished for defiance of the law to deter her from doing what she knew to be moral. Her brother, Polynices, had been killed fighting against Thebes, and though to bury and mourn him was considered prohibited by Creon, Antigone was determined to honour him by giving him a proper burial. Vengeance was not a trait considered desirable in a woman, but Antigone was a fierce woman who was passionate about what she believed to be just and right and she acted on her beliefs. When Creon learned that someone honoured Polynices with a burial he was enraged, but even more so when he found out that it was a woman (as in those days women were thought to have been, and in fact, were required to be entirely submissive to male authority), especially to that of the king, and he was appalled that any woman would wish to defy his commands. He was determined to show Antigone that no woman would undermine his authority by sentencing her to death. Antigone epitomizes what the Greeks considered to be a crafty woman. Creon considered her cunning for having plotted to bury her brother whom Creon regarded as a traitor. He saw her act as evil and as daring rebellion against his commands. Antigone’s bravery was demonstrated further in the poem when she justified her actions and proudly accepted the consequences she was about to experience. She takes full responsibility for her actions and is still able to remain strong through her sentencing because she truly believed that she had performed an honourable deed. Antigone disproved the popular belief that women were weak by courageously challenging a man, which was beyond what was considered acceptable in ancient Greece. In the play, Ismene represented the women of Thebes who were terrified to speak out because of fear of chastisement from male authority. Women in ancient Greece were regarded as weak and expected to be submissive and obedient to male authority. They were also lead to believe that they were helpless had no control and would be defeated if they opposed the males. As Ismene said to Antigone when she approached her and requested that she, Ismene, join her in rebellion against Creon and assist with the burial of their brother, â€Å"Remember we are women / we’re not born to contend with men. Then too / we’re underlings, ruled by much stronger hands / so we must submit in this, and things still worse† (Antigone. 74-77). Instead of fighting against the injustice that is being meted out to her brother, Polynices, by Creon, she analyzed the consequences and then decided that she would not to do what she knew to be morally right if it meant contending with a man. She regarded Antigone here as Greek women were thought to be during that time – acting on emotions rather than rational. Ismene’s lack of moral fibre is also illustrated when she attempted to take credit for the burial of Polynices with Antigone. She was willing to share responsibility for a legal misdemeanour, in which she had no part, just so she would be faced with a death sentence as she is so fearful to live without her sister. The disrespect and disregard which Creon has for women is demonstrated when he refers to Ismene as foolish and having no mind for wanting to share responsibility with Antigone for the burial of Polynices. There are also a number of male chauvinist perspectives exhibited by Creon throughout the poem. Creon was a harsh ruler and he had no compassion on persons he considered criminals, especially Antigone, because she was a woman. He counselled his son Haemon, husband of Antigone with these words, â€Å"we must defend the men who live by law / never let some woman triumph over us / Better to fall from power, if fall we must / at the hands of a man – never be rated / inferior to a woman, never† (Antigone. 757-761). Creon demonstrated here his belief that women were inferior to men, unreasonable, lacked intellect and must be punished for acting irrationally. Sophocles’ play was one of the first pieces of prose that emphasized how the roles and values of women were viewed in ancient Greece and shed light on the contrast between the sexist beliefs about women that existed at the time, and the way women really were. Women were not simply subordinate and weak as Ismene was, and as all women were believed to be, but had traits of strength and courage, like Antigone, as well.

Prehistoric Semi-Subterranean Winter Houses

Prehistoric Semi-Subterranean Winter Houses The most common form of permanent housing in the prehistoric period for arctic regions was the semi-subterranean winter house. First built in the American arctic about 800 BC, by the Norton or Dorset Paleo-Eskimo groups, semi-subterranean houses were essentially dugouts, houses excavated partially or completely below the ground surface to take advantage of geothermal protections during the harshest of climates. While there are several versions of this form of house over time in the American arctic regions, and in fact there are several related forms in other polar regions (Gressbakken Houses in Scandinavia) and even in the great plains of North American and Asia (arguably earth lodges and pit houses), semi-subterranean houses reached their highest pinnacle in the Arctic. The homes were heavily insulated to ward off the bitter cold, and constructed to maintain both privacy and social contact for large groups of people despite that harsh climate. Construction Methods Semi-subterranean houses were built of a combination of cut sod, stone, and whalebone, insulated with sea mammal or reindeer skins and animal fats and covered with a bank of snow. Their interiors possessed cold-traps and sometimes dual seasonal entrance tunnels, rear sleeping platforms, kitchen areas (either spatially discrete or integrated into the main living area) and various storage areas (shelves, boxes) for stowing food, tools and other household goods. They were large enough to include members of extended families and their sled dogs, and they were connected to their relatives and the rest of the community via passageways and tunnels. The real genius of semi-subterranean homes, however, resided in their layouts. At Cape Espenberg, Alaska, a survey of beach ridge communities (Darwent and colleagues) identified a total of 117 Thule-Inupiat houses, occupied between 1300 and 1700 AD. They found the most common house layout was a linear house with one oval room, which was accessed by a long tunnel and between 1-2 side spurs used as kitchens or food-processing areas. Layouts for Community Contact A substantial minority, however, were multiple large-roomed houses, or single houses built side-by-side in groups of four or more. Interestingly, the house clusters, with multiple rooms and long entrance tunnels are all more common attributes at the early end of occupation at Cape Espenberg. That has been attributed by Darwent et al. to a shift from a dependence on whaling to localized resources, and the transition to a sharp downturn in climate called the Little Ice Age (AD 1550-1850). But the most extreme cases of below-ground communal connections in the Arctic was during the 18th and 19th century, during the Bow and Arrow Wars in Alaska. The Bow and Arrow Wars The Bow and Arrow wars were a long-lasting conflict between different tribes including the Alaskan Yupik villagers. The conflict could be compared to the 100 Years War in Europe: Caroline Funk says it imperiled lives and made legends of great men and women, with a range of conflicts from deadly to merely threatening. Yupik historians do not know when this conflict started: it may have begun with the Thule migration of 1,000 years ago and it may have been instigated in the 1700s by competition for long distance trading opportunities with the Russians. Most likely it began at some point in between. The Bow and Arrow Wars ended at or just prior to the arrival of Russians traders and explorers in Alaska in the 1840s. Based on oral histories, subterranean structures took on a new importance during the wars: not only did people need to conduct family and communal life inside because of weather demands, but to protect themselves from attack. According to Frink (2006), historic period semi-subterranean tunnels connected the members of the village in an underground system. The tunnels - some as long as 27 meters - were formed by horizontal logs of planks shored up by short vertical retainer logs. Roofs were constructed of short split logs and sod blocks covered the structure. The tunnel system included dwelling entrances and exits, escape routes and tunnels that linked village structures. Sources Coltrain JB. 2009. Sealing, whaling Journal of Archaeological Science 36(3):764-775. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2008.10.022and caribou revisited: additional insights from the skeletal isotope chemistry of eastern Arctic foragers. Darwent J, Mason O, Hoffecker J, and Darwent C. 2013. 1,000 Years of House Change at Cape Espenberg, Alaska: A Case Study in Horizontal Stratigraphy. American Antiquity 78(3):433-455. 10.7183/0002-7316.78.3.433 Dawson PC. 2001. Interpreting Variability in Thule Inuit Architecture: A Case Study from the Canadian High Arctic. American Antiquity 66(3):453-470. Frink L. 2006. Social Identity and the Yupik Eskimo Village Tunnel System in Precolonial and Colonial Western Coastal Alaska. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 16(1):109-125. doi: 10.1525/ap3a.2006.16.1.109 Funk CL. 2010. The Bow and Arrow War days on the Yukon-Kuskokwim . Ethnohistory 57(4):523-569. doi: 10.1215/00141801-2010-036delta of Alaska Harritt RK. 2010. Variations of Late Prehistoric Houses in Coastal Northwest Alaska: A View from Wales. Arctic Anthropology 47(1):57-70. Harritt RK. 2013. Toward an archaeology of late prehistoric Eskimo bands in coastal northwest Alaska. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32(4):659-674. doi: 10.1016/j.jaa.2013.04.001 Nelson EW. 1900. The Eskimo about Bering Strait. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. Free download

Overview and Book List for A Merlin Mission Books

Overview and Book List for A Merlin Mission Books The Magic Tree House Merlin Missions include Books # 29 and up in the wildly popular Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. Like the first 28 books of the Magic Tree House series, each of the books subtitled A Merlin Mission features the magic tree house and time travel adventures of brother and sister Jack and Annie, but there is also a lot thats different. The time travel missions of Jack and Annie are now assigned by Merlin the Magician from Camelot, which is why the subtitle for every Magic Tree House book from book #29 on is A Merlin Mission.  The Magic Tree House, A Merlin Mission books are designed for kids who are ready for more advanced books than those in the first 28 books of the series for young independent readers. What to Expect Books #29 and higher are generally between 105 and 115 pages long, about 40 pages longer than books #1-28. They are also at a higher reading level, mostly between 2.4 and 3.4, and the target audience moves from 6 to 10 to 7 to 10 or 11 for the later books. Jack and Annie have also moved up in age. Jack is 11 now, and Annie is 10. Most of the books have several pages of facts and activities at the end. A chapter from the next book in the series is also provided. Like all of the other books in the Magic Tree House series, Sal Murdocca illustrated books #29 and up, with one or more engaging illustrations per chapter. New secondary characters and more complicated plots are now the norms. The overarching goal of each mission, which takes four books to complete, is more emphasized. For example, in books #33-36, Jack and Annie have to go on four missions, each to a real place and time, to demonstrate that they can use magic wisely. As a result of a successful mission in Venice, Baghdad, Paris and New York City, they receive a special award, the Wand of Dianthus, described as a powerful magic wand that would help them make their own magic. (Source, MTH #39, page 2) However, readers can continue to read and enjoy the books independently of one another, and in the order they prefer. At the beginning of the later books, author Mary Pope Osborne shares information about how her own experiences and interests relate to the books subject. In a portion of her letter to readers in Eve of the Emperor Penguin, Magic Tree House book #40, Osborne explains: While I was writing this book, I combined my memories of watching the penguins at the zoo with my research on Antarctica. And I used my imagination to think about Jack and Annie searching for a secret of happiness to share with Merlin. I always mix these three things together to create a Magic Tree House books: memory, research, and imagination. But theres one other ingredient that goes into my work on this series: joy. I love to write - and I love sharing Jack and Annie s adventures with you. One of the reasons Osborne receives so many letters from young readers is that her letters to readers make them feel that they have a personal connection with her. For more about Mary Pope Osborne and her books, check out these interviews with her: Magic Tree House Series Author Interview and 20th Anniversary of the Magic Tree House Interview With Mary Pope Osborne. As of March 2016, there was a total of 54 Magic Tree House books, with more forthcoming. All Merlin Mission books are first published in hardcover and, then, in paperback. They are also available in library binding and as audiobooks and eBooks. Also, there are 26 Magic Tree House Fact Tracker books, research guides, companion nonfiction books for some of the books in the series. Happily, ever since book #42, a Fact Tracker is published at the same time each new book in the Magic Tree House series is published. For more information about the nonfiction books, see Spotlight on the Magic Tree House Fact Tracker Books. List of Magic Tree House Books #29-48 (Merlin Missions) Christmas in Camelot, Magic Tree House, Book #29Haunted Castle On Hallow’s Eve, Magic Tree House, Book #30Summer Of The Sea Serpent, Magic Tree House, Book #31Winter Of The Ice Wizard, Magic Tree House, Book #32Carnival at Candlelight, Magic Tree House, Book #33Season of the Sandstorms, Magic Tree House, Book #34Night of the New Magicians, Magic Tree House, Book #35Blizzard of the Blue Moon, Magic Tree House, Book #36Dragon of the Red Dawn, Magic Tree House, Book #37Monday with a Mad Genius, Magic Tree House, Book #38Dark Day in the Deep Sea, Magic Tree House, Book #39Eve of the Emperor Penguin, Magic Tree House, Book #40Moonlight on the Magic Flute, Magic Tree House, Book #41A Good Night for Ghosts, Magic Tree House, Book #42Leprechaun in Late Winter, Magic Tree House, Book #43A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time, Magic Tree House, Book #44A Crazy Day with Cobras, Magic Tree House, Book #45Dogs in the Dead of Night, Magic Tree House, Book #46Abe Lincoln at Last!, Magic Tree House, Book #47 A Perfect Time for Pandas, Magic Tree House, Book #48Stallion by Starlight, Magic Tree House, Book #49Hurry Up, Houdini!, Magic Tree House, Book #50High Time for Heroes, Magic Tree House, Book #51Soccer on Sunday, Magic Tree House, Book #52Shadow of the Shark, Magic Tree House, Book #53Balto of the Blue Dawn, Magic Tree House, Book #54 The Allure Finding a series your child loves can pay off in helping them to develop their reading skills. The nice thing about the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne is that there are so many choices in terms of subjects and books and children can enjoy the books over time as they build their reading skills. The Magic Tree House books are also popular with teachers, particularly those teaching grades 2-4. Mary Pope Osbornes Magic Tree House Classroom Adventures Program site contains a great deal of information that will be helpful to teachers and parents alike in terms of reading levels and curriculum connections, as well as lesson plans.

Art History through the 19th Century (Final Compare and Contrast Term Essay

Art History through the 19th Century (Final Compare and Contrast Term Paper) - Essay Example He was born in Flanders. Rubens was raised Catholic, which was reflected in many of his paintings (Belkins, 11). The environment Rubens grew up with a Calvinist father and mother. Since Rubens father was away at King William of Orange I, his mother taught him to be a Catholic after moving to Antwerp (Belkins, 16). The anti-Protestant environment in Flanders caused this move. After studying under Titan, Rubens really came into his own. His sublime portraits dealt with the ugly subjects many would not touch. In comparison, Delacroix was a French Romantic painter. He was trained as a classical painter at the time. After visiting England, Delacroix started illustrating different works of writing. His clients included Shakespeare and Lord Byron. Both Rubens and Delacroix were affected by royal courts. Rubens was affected by William of Orange I and Delacroix was affection by the Neapolitan royal courts. Delacroix was influenced by Rubens artwork. Since Ruben was a Baroque painter, his paintings including Allegory of the Outbreak of War, is an emotional religious generated piece of art. Since being a Catholic, Ruben’s paintings had symbolism of right and wrong. Even though it might seem blasphemous to paint pictures of ancient gods, but the painting was an allegory. Since it was popular under the Catholic Medici’s to create works under the Baroque styles, Ruben fulfilled this goal with most of his work. Delacroix, on the other hand, was a painter from the Romantic era, which means Death of Sardanapalus was in that style. The painting was based on a work by Lord Byron. The sublime content of the painting was typical of the Romanticism style. The nationalism of Sardanapalus killing himself for losing in a military battle is also a factor in a Romanticism painting. Monsters, a broken lute, Mars’ feet on a book, and the women all have sorrowful looks and torn veils, all signify the horrors of war (Cooper). The allegory

Network design paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Network design paper - Coursework Example RIP is nominated by IETF as one of various other Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs). RIP works on distance learning vector algorithms while most of other protocols use sophisticated algorithms demanding time as well. (Dean, 2010, p. 274-275) RIP’s routing procedure is that its gateway router transmits complete information of routing table (that includes all the connected hops that are known to the gateway) to its nearest host after every 30 seconds. The neighboring router than pass the same information to its nearest neighbor other than from which it had received this information and process continues until every routers in the network has similar information of the routing paths. This condition is what we called network convergence. For determining distance of the network RIP uses process called hop count. Every hop in the network determines its neighboring hop(s) from routing table information for sending a packet to for a particular destination. Advantages of using RIP in th e network are: For small homogeneous networks RIP is considered as an effective solution. RIP is very easy to understand and configuring. It can be configured on all the routers present. Generally RIP is a loop free routing protocol but has limited scalability of around 15 hop maximum. Introduction to OSPF: Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a routing protocol implemented within large autonomous networks. OSPF is nominated by IETF as one of various other Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs). In a network where OSPF is used, if a router that receives a change in the routing table or identifies a modification in the network without delay multicasts this change information to every other host connected in the network with the intention that every host may have the similar information in the routing table. It only transmits the change that has occurred, not the entire routing table like RIP. It is a robust link-state routing protocol and is the most widely used Interior Gateway Protocol (I GP). It bases information on link-states that take additional network description into consideration. OSPF have functionality of prioritizing the path by assigning metric value to that path. For further dividing the subnets OSPF supports a variable network subnet mask. Advantages of using OSPF in the network are: Quickly responds to the network changes. Sends trigger updates when change occurs in the network. Use cost as metric for giving preference to the paths. It has protocol identifier of 89 in the IP address for OSPF packet identification. Summarizing the solution: As being the administrator of the company and as per the details given to me I know that my network running is RIP on it and has three networks while the merging company has one OSPF running network that means RIP networks outnumber the OSPF network so I do not prefer to change anything on my own network. For example if someone is the administrator of Windows server based sites and a new company is merging having Lin ux operating system. Although everyone knows that Linux has more advantages than windows but still would not feel easy to change my operating system. If to choose change than should also keep in mind that new Service-Level-Agreements, new suppliers, new business processes, new interfaces, etc and staff training as well. Why to this everything is running smoothly already. Our solution could have been a different if and

Canadian Press Coverage in the Middle East :: Canada Media Middle East News Essays

Canadian Press Coverage in the Middle East In December 1985, the Canadian press reported the death by suicide of hundreds of field mice in the Middle East. In an apparently instinctive reaction to a problem of over-population, the mice willfully plunged to their doom off the cliffs of the Golan Heights. This bizarre story was the subject not only of straight news coverage in the Canadian press, but also of an editorial in the Globe and Mail on December 20. On November 1, 1985, the Globe and Mail also ran a photograph of a visiting Roman Catholic priest from Brazil, saying prayers on the banks of the Jordan River at the site where Christ is said to have been baptized. Standing alertly near the priest was an Israeli soldier with a rifle slung over his shoulder, his eyes carefully scanning Jordanian territory across the river. For the analyst of the media and media image-making, these rather unusual press items raise an interesting question about news selection and presentation by the editorial departments of the daily press. Had the mice toppled off Mount Kilimanjaro would this essentially scientific story about animal behavior have found its way so prominently into the Canadian press? Had the priest been peacefully saying mass on the Mountain would this religious item have been deemed worthy of coverage? Or was it the newspapers' sense of the irony of these events, of their news value as symbols depicting the pervasive conflict and violence we have come to associate with the Middle East that led to their selection for publication from the reams of teletype endlessly flowing into the editorial departments of the Canadian press? It would seem that even when the subject matter is scientific or religious--about mice or monsignors--the press is inclined to remind its readers of the inherently violent nature o f the Middle East, and a fundamentally negative image is developed or reinforced. It is, Canadians are told in effect, a region so bleak and hopeless that even its despairing mice are driven to take their lives. The purpose of this study is to examine in an empirical fashion Canadian daily press coverage of the Middle East to establish, inter alias, what type of image of the region and of its principal actors (Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states) is, in fact, resented to the Canadian reader and what impact, if any, the character of that coverage has had on the shaping of Canadian foreign policy.

Of Mice And Men Slim Questions Essay

Question A- How does the extract improve the reader’s understanding of Slim? The passage immediately introduces Slim as an authoritative and almost regal member of the ranch: â€Å"He moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen.† Most of the men working on the ranch are transient and poor and, although Slim is no exception, he does not share their careless and selfish attitudes. Slim also accepts his authority and responsibilities, despite the fact that he would have little respect outside of the ranch, which, ironically, places him in high standing on the ranch. This is emphasized by the admiration and respect given to him by the others: â€Å"†¦the prince of the ranch†. He is awarded a title by the others due to the fact that they do not see him as equal to them; they view him as an almost mythical person of extreme benevolence and compassion. They therefore give him more attention and hold him higher esteem than they do with anyone else on the ranch, meaning that Slim has, in the men’s opinions; become the unofficial leader of the ranch. Furthermore, the passage describes Slim as something similar to a divine being: â€Å"His hatchet face was ageless†. This suggests that, to the others, Slim is god-like and unique in his ability to never fail physically and consequently never to suffer the pain, humiliation and uselessness anyone else would be forced into, as demonstrated by Candy. Despite all of the adoration and respect surrounding Slim, it is clear to the reader that his future is that of the other men, as shown in the statement: ‘Like the others he wore blue jeans and a short denim jacket.’ Slim is like every other worker on the ranch; he is exactly as lonely and incomplete as they are, symbolised by his clothing, and he has to cope with the same problems. The reader is shown the reality before the idolised view, but it makes the build-up of his prowess and pre-eminence all the more staggering. It becomes apparent that despite all of the idolisation and respect that surrounds Slim, he will eventually succumb to his fate and become like Candy, useless and alone. Slim is displayed with an aura around him of intelligence and importance that is felt by everyone at the ranch: â€Å"There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke.† Slim is constantly presented as a stark difference to the other characters, someone to idealise and appears as something abnormal yet desired by them all. He becomes the other character’s paragon of perfection, everything they had wished to be. Similarly, he is shown to be considered omniscient by the others on the ranch: â€Å"His ear heard more and was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought.† Slim is revered by the others as someone far beyond their comprehension as well as something they could only wish to be. They are all lonely and so connect to Slim as someone who they believe could protect them and could advise them without judging or pitying them; in his understanding of them, he becomes their guide and protector. Contrastingly, Steinbeck gives his character a very real and human nature to him as well: â€Å"‘It’s brigther’n a bitch outside,’ he said gently.† It is easy for the reader to become swept up in the exaggerated, romanticised and dramatised version of Slim but the reader is shocked by the simplicity of Slim’s mannerisms and behaviour, but this shock is not unpleasant. The contradiction throws the reader, but also shares with them the characters’ ability to befriend Slim despite his apparent superiority and further shows that despite his air of mystery and omniscience, he is similar to the other men. How does Steinbeck use the character of Slim to convey ideas and themes in the novel? Loneliness and isolation is despairingly apparent throughout the novel and Slim is used to highlight it: â€Å"Slim came directly to George and sat down beside him, sat very close.† Steinbeck uses Slim as a protector of George and a life line to redeem him, to accent the fact the in the aftermath of Lennie’s execution; George is then as completely alone as everyone else on the ranch and like the other transient workers during that time period. Slim is used throughout the novel to show the need for hope during the Great Depression, as shown when he comforts George. Slim is also used to show the inevitable loss of hope and the realisation that many cannot achieve their ‘American dream’: â€Å"You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.† The speech here is used as comfort to George after he shoots Lennie, but it also an equivocation and implies that George never really had an opportunity to achieve his and Lennie’s ‘American dream’, that none of the characters in the novel did and that they would always end up alone, no matter how hard they fight to change this. Furthermore, Slim’s character is used to display the harsh reality of the world and displays the efficient and unsentimental view of a ranch: â€Å"Candy looked a very long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none.† The cruel reality of a world where worth is decided by a single party and skills have no sway over events appears as a strange concept to the reader and Slim is used to demonstrate that it is necessary for him to pass judgement over the other men on the ranch and the events of the novel. Slim is displayed as the embodiment of strength and skill in the novel: â€Å"†¦capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders.† This shows that he has value to the ranch and that he is still capable of working for them successfully and while used to boast his abilities, this description of Slim is also used to show that characters in the novel and the transient workers of the time needed to be useful in order to stay on for work and to keep in high opinions of their employers and co-workers. In this, Slim is shown to be useful, and therefore have value because he is still young and fit enough to work. Contrastingly, he is also shown to be limited and allows a shift in the good and evil balance: â€Å"You stay here with her then, Candy. The rest of us better get goin’.† Even though Slim’s abilities and influence are exaggerated by the imaginations of the men on the ranch, they are still real and if he had wished to stop Curley’s attempts to kill Lennie he probably would have succeeded. Steinbeck uses him here in the crucial moment that decides Lennie’s fate, to show that all evil needs to succeed is for good people not to stop it.