Text Analysis Literature Review Sample

1. What do these texts seek to teach us through each of their clashes of culture?
According to her, the latter were accorded a greater form of liberty due to the kind of social relations and placement of the women in the society at that time. As she points out, “to be found or expected in this World but I ought to give you Information, which can only be learned by Experience”. (Montagu, 1994). The travels that she made in Europe shaped the notion that she had about freedoms and liberty. The author seeks to compare the domestic conditions that she experienced with the new cultural practices and conditions that she faced in Europe.
All over the places the author visited, the concept of the learned woman always came up. Here, the main argument revolves around the position that the women hold in the society. In the ideal setting, women should not be viewed as inferior compared to men but should be given their rightful place in the society. The author due to the interactions experienced in different places, nations and settings has a certain view on marriage that is not conventional. This view approaches marriage as an agreement and actually a business agreement that families indulge in and involves bargaining over the level of bride price being exchanged between the two families.
In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver is concerned with the concept of different classes found in the society. According to the author, there should remain a distinction between the different classes in the society such that no visible movement between these classes is seen. This situation maintains a level of nobility that Gulliver sees as important for the society to remain in stable condition and orderly. This notion is however flawed since the author, on the other hand, seems to benefit from the kind of the startup that the society has been made. He takes advantage of the situation in order to navigate through the classes set in the system and achieves the sort of success that arises from the lack of nobility he talks about.
The morality of people in different cultural settings is also highlighted in the Gulliver’s case. Here, though the Brobdingnagians are viewed as being evil due to the treatment that they give to the foreigners; they have their own way of doing things and morals. This can be applied to the normal situation where people learn from others in terms of behavior rules and ethics. “And when I went next to court, was able to understand many things the King spoke, and to return him some kind of answers. His Majesty had given orders that the island (Swift, 2006).
In the Love Song by Prufrock, the focus is on the nature of relations that many individuals have with the society. As portrayed in the text, most people have the ability to see the potential that life has to offer but there is the increased disability of most people to act toward the needs that they have. “And indeed there will be time. To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”(Eliot, 1920). The author here shows the indecisiveness problems that people often face in different aspects of life.
Through the text, the concept of the people facing their perceived inadequacies in the society is seen. Through different cultures, people act in a similar way to the different classes placed by the society. In this situation, people are often tied to remain specific social classes that they belong to. In most instances, people lack the ability to navigate safely through the walls placed between the different classes and especially the middle class. This means that they continue to be in some kind of prison from which they cannot break free.
In setting up the text as a journey, the author places the human life in the context of a journey that is dictated by societal conventions. For example, he writes, “Let us go then, you and I” (Eliot, 1920). Through these conventions, the choices and the decisions that people make are determined by the settings in the society. They are not in control of the outcomes of their lives but rather have to live with the results from the societal conventions set up by the society. Eliot points at the overall determinants to the nature of lives that people live. The lives of people, therefore, come out as a product of the social forces that are available in that particular setting. The self-consciousness of the people is therefore impacted such that they become imprisoned in their states and classes.
The same is also applicable in “The Wasted Land”, where another clash of cultures occurs. This clash is about the new modern culture (especially in the cities) after World War I and the old culture before the war. Eliot displays the new culture as being a degraded mess that only reminds one of its former glory and therefore instills sadness. It appears as if some individuals are overwhelmed by the new culture and find hard living it. Some even have trouble interacting with each other and many are lonely. For example, he writes “As I watched the smoke that rises from the pipes, of lonely men in shirt sleeves, leaning out of windows (Elliot, 1922).
2. How do these texts present the insanity of war? What is their authors’ implied opinion of war?
The different authors point at the various aspects of war with most of them being critical of the nature of the human beings revealed when the concept of war is introduced. In Gulliver's Travels the author points at the kind of weaknesses that human beings portray due to their desire to frequently enter into war. The people are weak in that they are unable to solve their problems using dialogue which is the sensible way of dealing with strife and conflicts.
The reasons that people, therefore, adopt as the explanation and justification of the war are not worth, compared to the results that follow. Many lives are lost, and destruction of property experienced. The author, therefore, goes on to point that the reasons people go to war about are as minor as religious wars that different factions in the society often wage against each other.
The nature of war in most cases takes the form of some of the factions retaliating against the aggression shown by the people in the opposing factions. The author, however, disagrees with the reasons that the different people opposing each other give.
During Gulliver’s travels and the resulting voyage to the island, he is provided with a further reflection on the nature of war. Here, he gives the description of an animal referred to as the Yahoo, who has characteristics that are similar to man. “ ..Every vice and folly to which Yahoos are subject if their natures had been capable of the least disposition to virtue or wisdom” (Swift, 2006). Through this rough creature, the nature of man is seen due to his violent nature and the affinity for violence. The animal described by the author, in this case, therefore, who is the representation of human beings shows the uncivilized nature of the human beings. This is actually the innate nature of humans who without proper controls results into violent behavior expressed and shown through the wars.
According to the author of the Gulliver’s travels, the broader concept of war that occurs between different countries can be understood by looking at the different strengths that the opposing nations have. According to him, the countries have petty reasons that often result in war. The biggest of these reasons is the strengths of the different nations whereby the weak nations are envious of the stronger nations, while the stronger ones are proud such that they want to continue their dominance over the weaker ones.
The people involved in the wars, in this case, have different roles to play, with the nobles and the rulers calling and giving instructions to the soldiers. The soldiers have little or no say about what happens to them but rather follow their leaders blindly to war. They are essentially animals who are out for hire by the rulers who use them to do their dirty work.
In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, the author examines the role played by governors of states in aspects that include war. He points at the roles played, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do” (Eliot, 1920). The subjects and especially the advisors of the prince play a disrespectful role of advising the leaders on what to do which is not always noble as it is in the case of wars.
In her travels through Europe and England, Montagu explores the lives of the women in different places affected by the Ottoman wars. The position of the women varied from place to place, but an aspect of cultural exchange took place. States took new stances in the way women were treated with some such as turkey acting as the flag bearers. She says that “I know no European court where the ladies would have behaved themselves in so polite a manner” (Montagu, 1994). The wars therefore bring about cultural interactions within countries leading to changes in behavior among the people.
Another aspect of war that is portrayed in the text is found in The Waste Land text by Eliot. The texts start in a sad tone by showing the scene of burial in the Anglican setup. “I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter” (Eliot, 1922). This speaks to the kind of gloom people apparently live under the oppression of war.
The description of the war according to the author, in this case, is shown in the adopted version of the famous Tristan und Isolde conflict. Through them, the nature of the war relations people have amongst each other and the kind of outcomes that arise.
He also draws on the example of the cartage wars, whereby the nature of their destructiveness does not justify the need to enter into war. Prufrock points at the impact of the wars on the people by painting the imagery of the people being surrounded by ghosts. This refers to the feeling of been trapped into a group but failing to recognize any face in the group.

References

Swift J (2006) Gulliver's Travels. Retrieved 18 March 19, 2015 https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/819/gulliver.pdf?sequence=1
T.S. Eliot (1922) The Waste Land. Retrieved 18 March 19, 2015 http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html
T.S. Eliot (1920) The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Retrieved 18 March 19, 2015 http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html
Montagu W. (1994) Turkish Embassy Letters. Retrieved 18 March 19, 2015 http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/montagu-letters.html