Everett and Odysseus Similar Features - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1594 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/04/01 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Odyssey Essay Did you like this example? The Odyssey is an epic poem written by the famous author Homer. The Odyssey tells the story of a man named Odysseus and his ten year journey home during which he faces perilous dangers and difficult choices and in the end he finally reunites with his wife in his home of Ithaca. Unlike most well-known books, there is not a film adaptation of the story. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Everett and Odysseus Similar Features" essay for you Create order There is, however, the movie O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? which is a film that is loosely based off of The Odyssey. There are many similarities between the two even though they are completely different stories. Part of the reason The Odyssey is so well known is because it is about an ordinary man who faces realistic obstacles and manages to persevere despite not being a stereotypical hero. Although it was not invented at the time, the plot line that Homer created still follows Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. The story begins with Odysseus in his homeland of Ithaca, his call to adventure was the opportunity to fight in the Trojan War and he gained assistance from his fellow soldiers. Although the Trojan war was dangerous, Odysseus truly crosses into a new world when he begins sailing home, ten years later once the war is done. During his journey back to Ithaca, he and his men face danger and claim power as they make their way home. Eventually, Odysseus finds himself back at Ithaca, this is his return, after winning back his wife the story is over and this is when his â€Å"new life† begins. O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? also follows The Hero’s Journey, the main character Everett Ulysses McGill is a reflection of Odysseus in the movie. He is an ordinary man with his men who make their way through many dangers on their long journey h ome. Everett and Odysseus face some of the same obstacles and this is where the similarity between the film and Homer’s epic really shows. After escaping from prison three men, Everett, Pete, and Delmar encounter a blind man driving a hand car down a railroad, he offers them a lift. While they are riding the blind man predicts their future. He says that they will not find the treasure that they seek and that they will face many obstacles. This blind prophet correlates with Teiresias, the blind prophet of Apollo that Odysseus spoke to in The Land Of The Dead. While camping out in the woods Pete, Everett, and Delmar suddenly find themselves in the middle of a group of churchgoers who are all walking towards the lake. Out of curiosity the men follow them and find that a priest is baptizing people in the lake to free them from their sins. Pete and Delmar ran into the lake to ask the priest to baptize them, after being baptized they run back to Everett rejoicing and telling him that t hey feel happy and free. Being baptized let the two men forget about the troubles of their journey for a short time, but Everett never took the opportunity just as Odysseus never ate the lotus flowers while all of his men ate them and forgot about their home and their mission. At one point in the film the men are in need of money so they drive to a radio station where they can record a song for cash. They call themselves The Soggy Bottom Boys and sing the song â€Å"Man of Constant Sorrow†. The man who owns the radio station enjoys their song and pays them well. There is a similar situation in The Odyssey when Odysseus is with King Alcinous and he tells him the story of his journey and is given a ship ride home in return. While driving to their destination Pete hears singing in the distance and forces Everett and Delmar to follow him and investigate. They find three women washing clothing in a river and singing a song. The women being to seduce the men, singing the entire time and eventually the men fall asleep. The three women represent the sirens from The Odyssey, but Odysseus and his crew end up avoiding them. When Delmar wakes up he sees that Pete is gone and finds a toad in his place. Pete was not actually a toad but Delmar and Everett did no t know that. Pete â€Å"turning into a toad† represents when some of Odysseus’ men were turned into pigs by Circe, the Goddess of Magic. After catching â€Å"Pete† Everett and Delmar went out for lunch and at the restaurant they met a man who was blind in one eye. The man represents Polyphemus the Cyclops and his name is Big Dan Teague. Big Dan tells them that they can earn money by selling Bibles with him. Everett and Pete were interested in the offer so they went with him up to a hill where Big Dan beat them up and stole their money. Then he squished â€Å"Pete† and ran. This situation is mirrored in The Odyssey when Odysseus and his men get trapped in Polyphemus’ cave and the Cyclops crushes and eats some of the men. After arriving in town Everett sees his daughters singing together onstage. When he explains to them that he is their father they do not believe him because their mother, Penny, told them that Everett had been hit by a train. This is similar to when Telemachus did not recognize Odysseus when he was disguised and still did not believe that he was his father after he revealed his true self. Telemachus still thought that he was a God of some sort and could not be his father. When Everett went into the shop to confront his wife,he met her fiancà ©, Vernon. Penny is still in love with Everett but was going to marry Vernon anyway, this is kind of how Penelope acted. She still loved Odysseus but she let the suitors stay at her home. Later, Everett and Delmar went to the movie theatre. In the middle of the film a group of prisoners was escorted into the theatre, Pete was one of them. They were both obviously shocked because they thought that Pete was dead. Pete makes sure to tell them that they should not seek the treasure. This scene loosely correlates with The Land Of The Dead from The Odyssey. Odysseus goes to The Land Of The Dead and speaks to Tiresias the blind prophet of Apollo and Elpenor, one of his dead crew members. The setting is also similar both places are dark, grey, and foggy. After reuniting with Pete, they find themselves outside of a Ku Klux Klan meeting and they see that the Klan members are about to kill Tommy, an African American guitarist they befriended earlier. To save him they steal KKK uniforms from the color guard and pretend to be part of the ceremony in order to get close to Tommy. This is like when Odysseus and his men hid under the bellies of Polyphemus’ sheep in order to escape from his cave. It turns out that Big Dan Teague is a part of the KKK and he notices the color guard acting strangely so he rips off their hoods. The men grab Tommy and run, before escaping they throw a Confederate Flag at Big Dan Teague and it nearly blinds him. Just like when Odysseus blinds Polyphemus with a giant wooden stake. Finally Everett gets back together with his wife Penny but she refuses to marry him until he goes back to their old home and retrieves her old wedding ring. Penny is giving Everett a test just like when Penelope gave Odysseus the â€Å"bed test†. When Odysseus arrived he was in disguise no one knew who he was but Penelope did, she just had to be sure. Penelope asked a servant to move her bed out of her room for him to sleep in. She knew that only Odysseus would know that the bed was unmoveable. O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey also have similar themes, the main theme in both of them is the importance of love and family. Both Odysseus and Everett embark on long challenging journeys to get back home to their wife and children. If they did not have family to get to they most likely would not have been so resilient in the when facing the hardships that were presented to them. They may have even given up because they could have just made a new life for themselves seeing as they would have been alone regardless. Both Odysseus and Everett put others in danger just so that they can reach their destination. They both put themselves in danger, and put themselves into possibly deadly situations just so that they can return home. Homer’s epic conveys a more serious and powerful message, the film has the same theme but is more lighthearted and has comedic elements. In the film, the message of family loyalty is better displayed because Everett did stayed loyal to his wife throughout his journey while Odysseus did not. Also, in the film, family loyalty is a very clear theme and in The Odyssey this theme is apparent but is somewhat masked behind other important elements of the story. Both the epic and the film convey the very important message of love and family loyalty. The two works are incredibly different yet very similar and they both a good job of getting across the message that family is the most important thing in the world.

The Burn Journals By Brent Runyon - 1056 Words

In the book The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon, Brent talks about his road to recovery after his suicide attempt. Although Brent was severely burned after the incident and had to spend almost a year in hospitals, the suicide attempt also impacted his family. Brent had to go through therapy along with his family going to some of the sessions as well. In the therapy sessions, his family explained some of the feelings that they going through. â€Å"A variety of emotions may emerge, all of which are completely normal. These can include, but are not limited to: †¢ Anger at the person who made the attempt †¢ Guilt †¢ Anxiety and a sense of insecurity †¢ Shame †¢ Powerlessness, helplessness, a lack of control †¢ Betrayal† (Bryan n.d.) Brent’s family displayed many of these emotions throughout the book. So even though some people think that Brent was the only one hurt in this situation, his family also was affected. Brent’s brother, Craig, was outside playing basketball when Brent set himself on fire. After Brent realizes what he had done, he started yelling for Craig to help him. Craig was the one who saw Brent when he was on fire. Craig had to get him help. When they were wheeling Brent out of the house, we could see some of Craig’s emotions showing through, â€Å"I turn my head and see Craig in the front hall. He’s yelling and punching walls. He’s angry† (Runyon 18). While going to the family therapy sessions, Craig continued to seem angry, and Brent noticed. In a later therapy session, CraigShow MoreRelatedAdaptation Is Important Because If Brent ( The Burn )1383 Words   |  6 Pagesreligious celebrations and don’t think anything of it after they have been doin g it through their childhood. They have adapted to that certain schedule. There are also different ways adaptation can be shown. Adaptation is important because if Brent (The Burn Journals), the Japanese Americans, and Temple Grandin didn’t have adaptation they wouldn’t have been able to live a normal life. The three examples from our literature will show how they have used adaptation in parts of their life. In 1942 the Japanese

Intervention Strategies For Michael Based On Assessment As Follow

Question: What Social Work Ethics and Practice Standards would you be Guided by? Answer: Introduction The assignment deals with the case study of Michael an 82-year old man who have suffered a major stroke which left him physically debilitated. He is mentally alert and lives with his wife Lucia in Gold Coast. His elder son Jared lives in Sydney and prefers his fathers treatment to be started at nursing home. Michaels daughter Julie lives in Brisbane and was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of Lupus. Michael is keen to return home and his wife is ready to care for her husband at home instead of rehabilitation. However, his doctors have concluded after the assessment that his condition is critical and that his wife may not be able to provide him with required care. In this context, the paper discusses the post hospital care for Michael as a social worker. The concerning issues related to the case are discussed using the social work assessment framework. Further, the paper highlights the interventions required for client and how the social care responsibilities were delivered considering the professional values and ethics. Assessment of the situation In order to help Mr. Michael in his care after transition from extensive rehabilitation to home, it is necessary to assess his condition to enhance optimal functioning and well-being. For this purpose, a multi-dimensional assessment framework is used. This framework helps to explore the socioeconomic context of the current situation of the client. This framework includes social, cultural and structural context (Fillenbaum, 2013). Physical dimensions Age-82 years, gender- male Michael is mentally alert although physically debilitated due to stroke. His coping strategies are good as long as he is in rehabilitation. There is no history of drug or alcohol abuse. He is dependent on caregiver for his daily life activities. Social dimensions Michael has social stress as he and his wife left teaching. There is low social connectedness with colleagues and students with no family support except his wife and son. He has good educational network Psychological dimensions Michael receives no emotional support from his daughter, as she is ill. His son is also away from home. His wife offers emotional, moral support and is caring. He has good intellectual capacity. However, the source of his stress is his daughters condition and his lonely wife. His illness is an added burden on his wife. His wife is the source of his motivation. His other source of stress is his son who is insisting him to continue rehabilitation. Structural dimensions Since Michael and his wife both are retired teachers they are dependent on his son financially. Since, Jared is a sole income earner it adds to structural source of stress Cultural and spiritual dimensions There are no cultural source of stress found. Informed assessment Using the procedural and questioning model during interview the long term and short term concerns are identified (Milner, Myers O'Byrne, 2015). The procedural model helps to gather information to see if the client fits the criteria of services. The questioning model helps to question and answer the client with active listening to understand the nature of people. While, communicating with client a non-defensive attitude was maintained. Further, active listening, acceptance and empathetic understanding was practiced to identified immediate and long term concerns of Michael (Teater, 2014). Upon reflecting on the assessment and communication with client it appears that Michael and his wife are positive in attitude. The client seems to be in situation where he is contemplating his health issues and is ready to take action to change his behaviour. At this stage, implementing interventions is easy (DiClemente Wiprovnick, 2017). It is indicative of good self-esteem. However, it is evident from the radical casework and interview that structural factors are influencing the clients situation (Baldwin, 2016). It would be challenging for Michael to return home where his wife will not be able to give him the health care that he is best receiving at rehabilitation centre. The clinical information received from his doctors indicate his physical condition to be critical. It will be burdensome for Lucia to care for her daughter as well as her husband. He has good image as a teacher and loves travelling. However, his current assessment indicates of poor quality of relational network. Thus, the immediate source of concern is safety of physical and mental health of Michael, and decision-making in regards to his transition from rehabilitation to home and affordability of services due to financial constraints and psychological support. Therefore, there is a need of helping client and family in decision-making and discuss costs effective services and implications with them. The long-term concerns in this care are social support for Julie, financial support to clients family and improve relational network. Intervention strategies Arrange for all the care needs at home with the help of community services offered by non-governmental organization. This services will be cost effective and will help in any assistance and equipment required by Michael. The community stroke team consists of healthcare professionals such as psychologists, physiotherapists, community stroke nurses, dieticians and occupational therapists. The team will continue to care and assess the health care needs and monitor the achievement of goals agreed (Walker et al., 2013). Michael will be provided with the practical help needed in this case. It includes provision of home carers to assist in adaptations for his home after performing the community care assessment (Tourangeau et al., 2014). The assessment will be conducted before Michael leaves rehabilitation. Michael will be refereed to short-term respite care, which involves short-term stay in care home to give break to his care assistant (Borenstein McNamara, 2015). In this manner, Michael can enjoy staying at home. It will also satisfy his sons demand to continue with Michaels care at nursing home. Simultaneously, it will also help his wife in fulfilling her responsibilities towards her both daughter and husband. Moreover, respite care will help improve social connectedness of Michael as there will be other patients with similar illness. It will help improve his mental wellbeing to some extent and provide various opportunities. The family will be referred to other home services such as wheel and laundry services. They will be provided necessary equipments to assist Michael in performing activities of daily life. Stroke helpline numbers will be provided in case of any emergency to receive additional support and information. The clients family will be referred to sources that can offer them financial support. As a social worker I have managed to build some rapport with client and his family and establish trust by showing interest and warmth. Therefore, I can help the client to explore their problems and its consequences and make effective decision (Taylor, 2013). I would give them the required psychological support by motivation. I would arrange for free of cost counselling services in Goald coast to address emotional concerns. Professional values and beliefs My professional values that I would consider in this case are to ensure that Michael and his family access basic information, services and resources. Serious efforts were made to promote the equality of opportunity to the client considering his financial and social dimensions. I attempted to have wholesome engagement with the client. While advocating, warmth and honesty is maintained to build relationships. This helped Michael and his wife to gain confidence and engage in open communication. These professional values guide my every day practice. While providing information personal gains and benefits are avoided. In case of Michael I have tried sincerely to implement cost effective approaches. I ensure to prevent discrimination and oppression of client. My professional value is to empower client while focusing on the priority concerns. This value guided in addressing Michael and his sons concern. Personal values in assessment process As a social worker, I tend to put aside personal opinions and views when assessing clients situation and never merge with the professional views and beliefs. The values were maintained in case of Michael as well. I have set my personal values but it does not interfere with the treatment or services delivered. I believe in offering sensitive and nonjudgmental services. I value honesty in my personal and professional work. I personally believe in marinating authenticity of the information delivered and giving a genuine response to clients concerns. According to Hepworth et al., (2016) being genuine and authentic helps build rapport with client and trust. I have learnt this value from my profession. Social work ethics and values While performing assessment and having discussion with the client, his respect and dignity was maintained. Maintaining worth and dignity of each client is the core value of social work (Miley et al., 2016). While having interview with the clients it is kept in view that each client has unique experiences. Therefore, clients individuality is respected. Prior to helping clients and their family in decision-making, confidentiality of all the personal information shared is ensured. Precautions are taken to safeguard the information and comply with the ethical principles of social work profession (Parrott, 2014)). No presumptions were made and being judgemental was completely avoided while collecting Michaels information. It helped to understand the core of the problems and develop rationalised interventions. While developing intervention to improve social connectedness social justice was ensured. These attempts improve relational network individually and collectively (Hepworth et al., 20 16). These activities promote respect for value, integrity and competence of the social work profession. The other core values of social work is to volunteer professional skills free of charge through community organisations (Reamer, 2013). Ethical dilemmas The ethical dilemmas in this case is acceptance of services of community stroke nurse by Michael. This is in regards to personal care offered by nurse such as dressing, bathing and other. Michael may prefer particular course of action, however, the nurse may influence the client with her professional opinion. It may violate the right to determination of client. Further, as the home care assistant will be acquainted with personal life of Michael and household issues there is a risk of breach of confidentiality. Further, improper allocation of fund or resources due to change in administrative policies may give rise to stressful ethical dilemma among the administrators. After terminating contact with the Michael and his family having further contact and to what extent it is appropriate adds to ethical dilemma. It can also give rise to situation where social workers moral and internal values conflict with that of Michael or Lucia. The language used by the stroke team members and the serv ices may not met all the cultural factors or needs of the client although the goal is to provide culturally appropriate care (Miley et al., 2016). References Baldwin, M. (2016).Social work, critical reflection and the learning organization. Routledge. Borenstein, J., McNamara, P. (2015). Strengthening kinship families: scoping the provision of respite care in Australia.Child Family Social Work,20(1), 50-61. DiClemente, C. C., Wiprovnick, A. E. (2017). Action as a Stage of Change in Couple and Family Therapy. InEncyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy(pp. 1-3). Springer International Publishing. Fillenbaum, G. G. (2013).Multidimensional functional assessment of older adults: The Duke Older Americans Resources and Services procedures. Psychology Press. Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., Strom-Gottfried, K. (2016).Empowerment Series: Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills. Nelson Education. Kadushin, A., Harkness, D. (2014).Supervision in social work. Columbia University Press. Miley, K. K., O'Melia, M. W., DuBois, B. L. (2016).Generalist social work practice: An empowering approach. Pearson. Milner, J., Myers, S., O'Byrne, P. (2015).Assessment in social work. Palgrave Macmillan. Parrott, L. (2014).Values and ethics in social work practice. Learning Matters. Reamer, F. G. (2013).Social work values and ethics. Columbia University Press. Taylor, B. (2013).Professional decision making and risk in social work. Learning Matters. Teater, B. (2014).An introduction to applying social work theories and methods. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Tourangeau, A., Patterson, E., Rowe, A., Saari, M., Thomson, H., MacDonald, G., ... Squires, M. (2014). Factors influencing home care nurse intention to remain employed.Journal of nursing management,22(8), 1015-1026. Walker, M. F., Sunnerhagen, K. S., Fisher, R. J. (2013). Evidence-based community stroke rehabilitation.Stroke,44(1), 293-297