Rise and fall of white supremacist groups

The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitmans Life and Work

The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitmans Life and Work Music and especially Italian opera had a significant impact upon the poetic style and life of Walt Whitman. Fond of music and fascinated with opera performances, Whitman wanted to spread the idea of the beauty of music to the masses.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitman’s Life and Work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The opera performances have become a source of pleasure and inspiration for the poet. Whitman was amused with opera as a multi-layered canvas combining the features of drama, music, dance and poetry and tried to use opera allusions and singing voice for extending the traditional frames of poetry. The phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I hear’ are interchangeable throughout the text of Whitman’s poems and appeal to the readers’ imagination for intensifying the effect produced by other language means and stylistic devices use d in his works. The poems â€Å"Song of Myself† and â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† which were included into Whitman’s collection of poems Leaves of Grass demonstrate the impact of music and opera upon the poetic style, images and rhythmic contour of Whitman’s poetry. Authenticity of Whitman’s poems The collection of poems Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman represents the result of the poet’s searches for himself and his contribution to authenticity of American poetry. As it was cited in the book by Skaggs Overtones of Opera in American Literature from Whitman to Wharton, commenting on his works published in Leaves of Grass, Whitman admitted that he needed to find himself and his niche in American literature so that to create those poems first published in 1855 (Skaggs 13). Whitman acknowledged the influence of Emerson, another outstanding American poet who promoted the idea of authenticity of American poetry and supported Whitman in finding hi s unique style.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Under the influence of Emerson’s aesthetics, the traditional American democratic ideals, including those of democratic equality, diversity and self-reliance, have become the central themes of Whitman’s poems (Loving 355). In â€Å"A Backward Glance O’er Travel’d Roads†, one of works included into the 1889 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman admitted that contributing to authenticity of American poetry was his primary inclination in selecting the themes and motives for this collection of poems: â€Å"I would sing, and leave out or put in, quite solely with reference to America and today† (Skaggs 13). It is significant that treating his works as songs of democracy, Whitman indicates not only content of his poems, but also their form and rhythmical contour. Whereas Emerson’s ae sthetics had a significant impact upon the selection and molding of Whitman’s ideals, the musical rhythms and particularly Italian opera influenced the poet’s meter-making methods. Bringing the beauty of music to the masses Faithful to the ideals of American democracy in his works and personal life, Whitman highly appreciated the music and was aimed at bringing its beauty to the masses in his poems. Whitman rejected the stereotype that only the wealthy elite can understand the aesthetic value of music and emphasized the role of music in public education and civic life. The poet admitted that making music a regular branch of studies at schools could have a positive impact upon the minds and habits of American youth. Developing his ideas, Whitman pointed out at the vital role of music in establishing the national identity of American people: â€Å"The subtlest spirit of a nation is expressed through its music – and the music acts reciprocally upon the nation†™s very soul† (Skaggs 14). In Whitman’s opinion, music and songs can help a nation to express their concerns and feelings. First, Whitman differentiated the music of feeling and the music of art. Later on, in the process of evolution of his views, he concluded that music can become a spiritualizing force for a democratic society and an art form for expressing the democratic ideals in his poetry. These changes can be explained with the inner conflict in Whitman’s soul. He was always fond of music, but when Italian opera first came to New York in 1825, most journalists criticized it for its falsity, and Whitman inevitably undergone the influence of this prevailing negative opinion.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Poetry and Music in Whitman’s Life and Work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The critics claimed that opera singers sounded unnatural expressing their pas sion or revenge in songs because people do not sing in real life. However, after closer acquaintance with opera, Whitman was fascinated with its beauty and spiritualizing force and decided to spread its beauty to the masses by interpreting opera in his poems. Opera as a source of inspiration and vocational necessity Though Whitman was fond of music in general and appreciated various musical genres, his discovery of opera allowed him to apply its musical forms in poetry. The spiritualizing force of opera was helpful for expressing human feelings and describing their experiences. Whitman’s acquaintance with opera started as vocational necessity. As a journalist, he had to attend and review numerous opera performances. Thus, this vocational necessity allowed Whitman to hear and see the best of European and American opera singers. First, Whitman like most of his compatriots did not appreciate the beauty of opera because of his outdated musical tastes. However, his journalist prac tice which coincided with the golden years of opera in America fostered the evolution of his tastes and made opera not only Whitman’s favorite form of art, but an important device which the poet implemented in composing his later works. There is evidence that Whitman continued looking for the opportunities to attend opera performances even during the years of the Civil War (Skaggs 16). Moreover, even after his journalist career was over, the poet sought for opera experiences which remained the source of his amusement and inspiration. There is historical evidence that the personality of an outstanding opera singer of the period Marietta Alboni and her proclamation of the principles of Aural beauty and nonchalance in opera art influenced Whitman’s style significantly (Schmidgall 52). The years of Whitman’s fascination for opera coincided with the years of his work on the poems which later were published in the collection of poems Leaves of Grass. Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For this reason, the influence of opera upon Whitman’s writing style can be identified in the interplay of images, rhythmical contour and stylistic devices of the poems included into the book, such as â€Å"Song of Myself† and â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm†, for example. Singing voice in â€Å"Song of Myself† Aimed at spreading the democratic ideals and the beauty of music to the masses, in translating the power of opera to the wide audience in his poems, Whitman found the opportunities for poetic self-expression and including the singing voice into his works for enhancing their aesthetic value. It should be noted that opera as an art form is a hybrid genre which incorporates the features of not only music, but also drama, dance and poetry. Opera as a multi-layered canvas attracted Whitman’s attention with the variety of opportunities for poetic self-expression. As a poet, Whitman lacked the methods which can be used in music and dance and decided to incorporate a singing voice into his poetry which allowed him to overcome the inadequacy of words and turned out to be a breath of fresh air into American poetry. The poem â€Å"Song of Myself† can be regarded as Whitman’s aesthetic confession in which he proclaims his main goals for using opera allusions and touching upon the democratic ideals in his works. The opening of the poem resembles poet’s sociopolitical identification and proclamation of his philosophical and aesthetic principles (Williams 49). An important principle of Whitman’s poetry is celebration of the power of human voice which is connected to the body and can go beyond the primary meanings of words. In the poem â€Å"Song of Myself†, Whitman proclaims: â€Å"I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul† (Skaggs 19). The singer disappears and these are only his pure voice and its sound that are left to for the audience. Thus, incorporating opera allusions into his works and translating his personal perception of opera into a singing voice, Whitman extended the traditional frames of poetry and intended to reach the invisible dimensions of reality in his songs which would be impossible without using a stylistic device which allowed using the text of a poem as a multi-layered canvas. The readers of the poems by Whitman are expected to see more than the surface of his words. â€Å"My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach† (Skaggs 19). In general, in his poem â€Å"Song of Myself† Whitman explained his understanding of the role of a singing voice in enhancing the aesthetic value of his works and improving their inner working for communicating the democratic ideals and the idea of the beauty of music to the intended audience. In the poem under consideration, Whitman manipulates the language material, paying special attention to the connection between the speech and the corresponding vision of poetic reality. Starting from th e poet’s personal amusement, Whitman’s fascination of opera grew into his desire to share his impression with this splendid form of art with his audience and translate certain fragments of opera performances in his poems for making them understandable for wide audiences. Thus, the poems by Whitman were expected to become a bridge between the opera as a form of art and masses whose musical tastes were unprepared for perceiving the opera performances and appreciating their beauty and aesthetic value. On the other hand, the role of opera allusions in Whitman’s poems was not limited to fostering love of music in masses. The singing voice was also significant for enriching the meaning of Whitman’s poems and adding special appeals to his works so that to allow readers to see much more than is actually said by words. Along with devices and multi-layered canvas, Whitman borrowed his extraordinary rhythmical patterns from opera. For example, a well-known literatur e critic Malcolm Cowley in his introduction to the collection of poems Leaves of Grass, admitted that the structure of Whitman’ poem â€Å"Song of Myself† was rather psychological than logical (Thomas 212). This work is more than a mere poem in terms of its rhythm and tone, and is closer to the form of rhapsody. As opposed to his predecessors and even to his own poems written earlier, Whitman used wavelike flow for â€Å"Song of Myself†. Analyzing the tone of the poem which changes its tempos, raising at the moments of climax and falling in other episodes, it can be stated that the rhythmical contour of the poem resembles a musical progression as opposed to the traditional geometrical figure used by other poets. Thus, the rhythmical contour becomes an influential factor affecting the readers’ perception of Whitman’s poems which should be taken into consideration for evaluating not only the imp[act of opera forms upon the poet’s heritage, but also the aesthetic value of Whitman’s poems in general. Hearing and seeing in â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† The poem â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† is another example which illustrates the influence of Italian opera upon the images, language style and contours of Whitman’s works. The singing voice was an effective method use by Whitman in his poems for enriching the meaning of words by influencing the readers’ perception of the language materials. T he poetic representations of singing and seeing are interrelated and mutually dependent in Whitman’s poetry because even the phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I sing’ give way to one another, as it can be observed throughout the texts of Whitman’s poems (Skaggs 29). The experiences of ‘seeing’, ‘hearing’ and ‘feeling’ are interlaced in the text of the poem â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† at the intersection of the sounds of nat ure and the author’s opera experiences. Even admiring the sounds of nature in this poem, Whitman draws upon opera for expressing the depth of his feelings and evoking the intended emotional reactions in his readers. Praising the music of storm at the beginning of the poem, in the line 75, Whitman mentions ‘Italia’s peerless compositions’ and emphasizes the role of opera singers in awakening of his soul. This approach allows communicating the author’s idea of the beauty of opera performances and the ability of this art to reveal the deepest emotions and the strongest human feelings. Whitman recalls his personal associations between the sounds of storm, episodes from opera performances and the feelings expressed by the opera heroes and heroines on the stage. Describing his opera experiences, Whitman uses the phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I hear’ which not only demonstrate the multi-layered canvas used in operas, but also appeal to rea ders’ senses for enhancing the effects produced by the language materials. Coming across the phrases ‘I see’ and ‘I hear’ in the text of the poem, the readers are expected to use their imagination for perceiving the images created by the author and hearing the sounds of nature and the singing voice for receiving the poet’s messages at their fullest. In the line 94, Whitman mentions Alboni and compares her to ‘sister of loftiest gods’ (Skaggs 30). This simile and opera allusion demonstrate the author’s fascination of opera performances in general and the specific impact of Alboni’s personal talent upon Whitman’s aesthetic taste and poetic style. Whitman paid special attention to the sound composition of this poem uniting the sounds of the sea and opera into the poetic whole and expresses his claim in the phrases â€Å"Give me to hold all sounds (I madly struggling cry,)/ Fill me with all the voices of the univ erse† (Skaggs 29). The poet creates the links between the processes in the world of nature and the motives of the opera performances, associating the sea storm with the plot lines of passion in love, the tragedy of suicide and the outrage of revenge. It should be noted that the initial title of the poem was â€Å"Proud Music of the Sea-Storm† which was later revised by the author by omitting the word sea which according to the systems of Whitman’s poetic concepts, symbolizes the cosmic life processes (Skaggs 30). Taking into account the fact that his personal interpretation of symbolic meaning of the concept of sea can be not understood by some readers, the pet deleted the word sea so that not to limit the readers’ imagination in decoding the meaning of the word storm, its sounds and processes. The lines â€Å"Poems bridging the way from Life to Death, vaguely wafted in night air, uncaught, unwritten† express Whitman’s primary concern in crea ting the sound effects of the storm and communicating his ideas to the readers (Skaggs 30). Thus, the opera allusions, sound whole and the singing voice used in â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† intensify the impression produced by the poem upon the readers by involving their imagination for translating the author’s symbols and understanding his philosophical ideas. Conclusion In general, it can be concluded that love of music and fascination of opera experiences played an important role in Whitman’s personal life and development of his poetic aesthetics. The instances of opera allusions and a singing voice can be detected in Whitman’s poems â€Å"Song of Myself† and â€Å"Proud Music of the Storm† which allowed the poet to extend the traditional frames of poetry and intensify the effect produced by the actual language material of his poems, making readers look beyond the surface of the words and using their imagination for not only reading, b ut also hearting the sounds and seeing the images created by the poet. Loving, Jerome. Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. Google Books. Web. Schmidgall, Gary. Walt Whitman: A Gay Life. New York: Dutton Press, 1997. Print. Skaggs, Carmen. Overtones of Opera in American Literature from Whitman to Wharton. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. Google Books. Web. Thomas M. Alexander. John Deweys theory of art, experience, and nature: the horizons of feeling. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1978. Google Books. Web. Williams, Charles. On Whitman. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print.

Types of Human Cloning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Types of Human Cloning - Research Paper Example During the period of 2006, FDA approved the use of cloned products such as plants and animals for the dietary purpose of individuals living in the US. Human cloning is a term used to define the creation of a genetically similar copy of a human being (MacKinnon 9). In this research the focus will not be cloning of animals and plants, rather the focus will be on human cloning, types of human cloning and the advantages and disadvantages associated with it. Reproductive cloning is one form of human cloning which is used to produce one or more than one individuals who are genetically identical to each other. During the period of the 1990s, the process of reproductive cloning was utilized in order to create identical clones of mammals such as sheep and pigs and one of the most famous examples of this activity was the production of Dolly (MacKinnon 56). Later several countries started banning the process in order to put a stop to the process of reproductive cloning for human beings. Another form of human cloning is DNA cloning which is even regarded as molecular cloning or cloning of the gene or recombinant DNA technology which is used to refer to the procedure through which multiple replicas of an individual fragment of DNA is created (MacKinnon 139). This kind of cloning can be conducted in several forms, for example, cloning of entire fragment of the gene can be conducted or a portion of the fragment of the DNA can be cloned or certain sequences of the DNA can be cloned. There are four steps involved in the process of DNA cloning, these include, fragmentation in which string of DNA is divided, the next step is the ligation part in which different parts of DNA are glued together in a sequence that is desirable, the third step is recognized as transfection, in this step the newly created DNA is inserted into cells and the last step is recognized as selection in which those cells that were transfected successfully with the DNA are selected (MacKinnon 116).

Sea Levels and Melting Glaciers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sea Levels and Melting Glaciers - Research Paper Example They continue to say it’s a myth regardless of recent, clearly observable weather anomalies such as record heat, droughts, storms and floods in addition to melting ice caps and glaciers causing rising sea levels. These climate events were predicted by scientists’ years ago. Others admit the earth is warming but deny the source claiming naturally occurring global temperature cycles are to blame. By simply acknowledging the facts and ignoring political agendas, man’s impact on climate change becomes clear, unlike the air we breathe. Man-produced air pollutants, chiefly carbon dioxide, are commonly referred to as â€Å"greenhouse gases.† Carbon dioxide is emitted naturally by mammals when they breathe out and taken in by growing plant life. This cycle does not pollute the air, however, carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil by factories, electric power plants and automobiles not only pollutes the air but i s causing an imbalance of the earth’s greenhouse effect. Part of the sun’s energy is reflected back into space by the atmosphere while part is allowed through and warms the earth. Naturally occurring substances in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, keep this balance and the earth’s temperature relatively constant. ... We have records of massive hurricanes striking what’s now New York as far back as the mid-13th century.† (Cooke, 2012). However, the warming seas, altered currents and higher sea levels due to higher climate temperatures made the storm larger, directed it on a path closer to the coast and amplified the reach of inland flooding. It seems reasonable to assume that global warming deniers, in general, have not objectively researched the available data. The oil and coal industry tries to sway public opinion by spending millions to convince people â€Å"clean energy† is too expensive and not yet a viable option while hyping their own efforts to reduce carbon emissions such as by using â€Å"clean coal† technology, a process that does not exists. â€Å"The airwaves are filled with corporate-financed climate misinformation.† (Begley, 2011). Even those who refuse to believe the scientific data cannot escape the undeniable reality that unusually extreme weathe r events are taking place more frequently. â€Å"Worldwide, the litany of weather’s extremes has reached biblical proportions.† (Begley, 2011). In 2010 Texas experienced a record drought. Many parts of the state did not have rain the entire year. Nearly1000 tornadoes ripped across the nation’s Midwest killing hundreds of people and causing billions of dollars in damage while record flooding inundated this region. Flooding in Australia and Pakistan left millions homeless. Heat waves in Europe and Russian have killed thousands. China, like Texas, endured drought conditions in most of 2010 which destroyed several millions acres that were once fertile farmlands. Sea levels are rising by varying degrees on almost every coastline. This is just the beginning and the worst is yet to

The Bretton Woods System Essay Example for Free

The Bretton Woods System Essay The Bretton Woods System (BWS) was implemented in 1946 under the Bretton Woods Agreement, each government obliged to maintain a fixed exchange rate for its currency vis-Ã  -vis the dollar or gold. As one ounce of gold was set equal to $35, fixing a currency’s gold price was equivalent to setting its exchange rate relative to the dollar. The fixed exchange rates were maintained by official intervention in the foreign exchange markets. This intervention was about purchases and sales of dollars by foreign central banks against their own currencies whenever the supply and demand conditions in the market deviate from the agreed on par values. Any dollars acquired by the monetary authorities in the process of an intervention could then be exchanged for gold at the U.S Treasury. In principle, the stability of exchange rates removed uncertainty from international trade and investment transactions. Normally, if a country followed its own policies leading to a higher inflation rate than its trading partners would experience a balance of payments deficit as its good became more expensive, which means its exports will decrease. A deficit has consequences, an increase in the supply of the deficit country’s currency on the foreign exchange markets. The excess supply would demoralize the exchange value of the currency of that country, forcing its authorities to intervene. The nation would be required to buy with its reserves the excess supply of its own currency, in order to reduce the domestic money supply. In addition, as the country’s reserves were depleted, the authorities would be forced to change economic policies to eliminate the source of deficit. The reduction in the money supply and the adoption of restrictive policies would reduce the country’s inflation. Basically, Bretton Woods was a fixed exchange rate system in name only. With 21 major industrial countries, only the U.S and Japan had no change in par value between 1946 and 1971. From the 21 countries, 12 devalued their currencies more than 30% against the dollar, four had revaluations, and four others were floating their currencies till the end of the system. On mid-1971, the president Richard Nixon was obliged to devalue the dollar to deal with America’s emerging trade deficit. The two reasons for the collapse of (BWS) are, inflation in U.S, they financed the escalating war in Vietnam, so they were printing money instead of raising taxes. Another reason is that West Germany, Japan, and Switzerland refused to accept the inflation because a new fixed exchange rate with the dollar will be imposed on them. Thus, the dollar depreciated sharply relative to the currencies of those three countries.

Morgan Spurlock?s Super Size Me Essay examples -- Obesity Crisis Ameri

Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me After watching Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me it became even clearer to me that there is an obesity crisis in this country. While this was not news to me; I was surprised by Dr. Satcher, the former U.S. Surgeon General, stating that 'left unabated obesity will surpass smoking as the number one preventable cause of death in this country.' Morgan Spurlock focused his attention on McDonalds in his documentary, but I think to simply blame the fast food companies grossly simplifies the issue. The obesity crises in this country is a lifestyle issue, big food corporations may be partially to blame, but lifestyle is something that is culturally decided not solely foisted upon us by the corporate world. The obesity problem in this country has gotten worse, a lot worse, and the surge in obesity can be tied directly to fast food. I was appalled by the fact that since 1980 the number of people either fat of obese has doubled, and in that time frame there are twice as many overweight children and three times as many overweight adolescents. Looking strictly at the numbers, it is very easy to find a direct correlation between the number of overweight or obese individuals and the number of fast food establishments. However these fast food outlets are not created in a vacuum, they are servicing a demand. Each day one in four Americans visits a fast food restaurant. Our culture has evolved to one of immediate gratification, we want it convenient, and we want it now. The fast food industry has simply seized that cultural demand and has taken advantage of it all the way to the bank. I think we have a cultural weakness that looks for someone to blame for our problems and McDonalds certainly mak es a nice target. I think Super Size Me poses a very interesting question in asking if fat is the next tobacco. It is clear that obesity is a very serious health issue but to me the real concern is whether we should consider unhealthy food items such as fat and sugar the same way we consider drugs and alcohol. According to Kelly Browning PhD of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, ?we live in a toxic environment of unhealthy food.? Morgan reacts to his first super size meal as his body would physically react to an overdose of toxic matter and he throws up. His body had in essence no tolerance for the fat and sugar and other processed... ...oft drinks, or candy. Parents like me trying to give their children a healthy example are overwhelmed just as the 5-a-Day campaign?s $2 Million advertising media budget is overwhelmed by McDonald?s $1.4 Billion media budget. Morgan Spurlock jokingly suggests fighting fast food?s impact on his child by punching the child in the face every time they pass a fast food restaurant to attach a negative association to fast food. Instead I plan to show Super Size Me to my child when he is old enough to understand it, as should all responsible parents. The obesity crisis has been muddled over a concern about the line between corporate and personal responsibility. More than 60% of Americans get no form of exercise whatsoever and at the same time we super size everything. The fast food chains are not forcing us to super size and consume these mass quantities, they are simply responding to the market. Just as we as a society are slowly recognizing the dangers of smoking, we must recognize the dangers of a high fat, high sugar diet that is paired with a sedentary lifestyle. Culturally we need to step up to the plate and see that there is a huge problem and then see what we can do about it.

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Essay

Throughout the novel the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Yunior tells the story of oscars family that is allegedly cursed by the Fuku. The dominican family that roots back to when Trujillo was in power has been tragical effected by the Fuku. The main character Oscar is an awkward Dominican that balms his failures on the curse of the Fuku. The curse started back in the Dominican republic when the oppressive dictator Trujillo convicted oscars grandfather Abelard who was a respected doctor for conspiracy. When oscars grandfather was put in jail he was tortured and beaten, this was the origin of the curse for the Wao’s. Like a gene the curse has been passed down the family to oscar. The author Junot Diaz uses the motif of the Fuku to illustrate how bani allows her awful past to dramatically affect her and children. Everyone that lived in the dominican was in some way negatively effected by Trujillo. Oscar Wao was a living example of the fuku and how not only Trujillo effected the dominican people of his time but even the people two generations later. For example (p.5)â€Å"wether I believe in what many have described as the great american doom is not really the point. You live as long as I did in the heart of Fuku country, you hear these kinds of tales all the time everybody in san domingo has a Fuku story knocking around in their family.† Yunior is expressing the fact that even if you are not a believer of the Fuku curse if you are dominican there is a good chance it has affected you or your family. When oscars mother was left an orphan she was put through unbelievably awful circumstances much like her fathers. This time in Bani’s life effect who she became and how she parented Oscar.(78)â€Å"From 1951 on, â€Å"hija† and â€Å"madre† running their famous bakery near the plaza central and keeping their fading, airless house in tip-top shape. (before 1951, our orphan girl had lived with another foster family, monsterous people if the rumors are to be believed, a dark period of her life neither she nor her madre ever referenced. Their very own pagina en blanco). This quotation refers to how oscars mother was effected by the Fuku. The reason she was an orphan was because Trujillo killed her parents. The events of her childhood were a direct result of Trujillo but Bani had the power to put the past in the past and parent Oscar the right way, because Bani did not do this the Fuku lives on. Many times in the book a Wao has been injured almost to the point of death. Once was when Oscar attempted suicide. Oscars Suicide attempt was not just because he lost the first girl he has ever loved it was also because of how Oscar had almost no self esteem. Even his own mother would belittle him from a young age. The suicide attempt went wrong and Oscar survived to live another day. (p.191) â€Å"Except that this one of the garden dividers that they planted shrubs on and he hit the freshly tilled loam and not the concrete.† Because he hit the fresh loam he survived with many harsh injures instead of plummeting to his death as planned. This was an incident in Oscar Wao’s life that was a result of his failures like his failure to love or be loved. This failure stems back to how his mother raised him with very tough love because of the her childhood. The novel clearly illustrated how the Fuku has effected all Dominican people even if they had immigrated off the island. To me this novel is not about dominican people and there history it is about how only one man effected millions of lives not only in one point it time but for generations to come. Junot Diaz shows the reader how we all have the power to stop horrible things like the Fuku from effecting the next generation but you must have the power to leave the past in the past.