Looking At The Storys Behind Indian Art Cultural Studies Essay

Looking At The Storys Behind Indian Art Cultural Studies Essay I intend to do research on the Indian folk art forms, their styles, different symbols and forms as well as the context and cultural backgrounds. I will focus on MDAHUBANI PAINTINGS, a folk art originated from North India. This research will help me understand the characteristics of these art forms, which will inspire my animation story and visual style. The story of Indian art is also the story of one of the oldest and most resilient cultures on earth. Throughout its history, Indian art has combined local tradition with outside influences, and has evolved along with a civilization, which has been remarkably innovative in all areas. As in every culture, art has been a mirror of Indias fascinating history from the beginning, reflecting religious beliefs, political events, and social customs. Especially in folk arts we find a compelling and beautiful record of centuries of Indian culture. Introduction to Indian Folk Arts The somewhat lesser-known traditions of Indian painting are the so-called folk paintings dating back to a period that may be referred to as timeless. These are living traditions, intrinsically linked with the regional historic-cultural settings from which they arise. It has an age-old heritage that can be traced back to the beginning of civilization on this subcontinent [1]. It began with cave paintings, with the natural dyes so strong that they can still be seen today on the walls of the caves after centuries. The folk and tribal painting come from the remote rural and tribal regions. Sometimes the artists of these rustic works are not even educated. They lack the basic means to attend schools, and as they are gifted with such beautiful mean of expression by nature. The various painting forms coming from these regions began not just as a painting but also as a religious and social ritual performed daily. It began with painting the walls and floor of mud houses. They hide the belief that this purified the ambience and pleased the deities. Various religious and symbols were therefore seen within the painting. The term folk paintings here encompasses pictures made in Indian villages by both men and women, for ornamentation of their abodes, portrayals of their gods and for their various rituals; and, by local professional painters or artisans for use of the local people. All these paintings were produced in a variety of styles and themes. History, sociology and geography infused the painting of each region with local flavor. Their style and quality depended on the materials available in the place in which they were executed, these very factors that helps to identify the region. Folk art may be defined as the art created among groups that exist within the framework of existing society, but, for geographical and cultural reasons, are largely separated from the sophisticated and cultural reasons, and the developments of their time. As a result, they produce distinctive styles and objects for local needs and tastes. In folk tradition, art is nourishment to the daily life of the people. Whether he is a TAMILNADU (an Indian state) [2] potter who creates a massive terracotta AIYANAR (example in Appendix. Pic.1) or a MADHYA PRADESH (an Indian state) [2] tribal who creates PITHORA painting (example in Appendix. Pic.2), at the moment of creation, the poverty-stricken, illiterate folk, becomes a master-crafts-man who can create marvelous plastic and visual forms with a creative genius handed over to him by generations. Topography and geography too have control over the medium of art. In the case of UTTAR PRADESH (an Indian state) [2], we can find folk paintings on the walls of the houses. Whereas in ASSAM (an Indian state) [2], one cannot find wall paintings because most of the walls of the house are built with cane or bamboo. The folk and tribal traditions, consider all materials available in day-to-day life are worthy of serving as a medium of expression. In this regard, artist-writer, HAKU SHAH writ es, When a tribal touches a blade of grass, gourd or bead, fiber, twig, grain, pin, plastic button, conch shell, feather, leaf of flower, he sees through it, smells it, hears it, and therein starts the ritual of being with it [3]. Each part of the country with its own trees and plants, birds and animals, hills and dales has inspired Indian folk artists to have multiple metaphors, series of symbols and innumerable images to build a rich treasure-house of art. The following are the common stylistic characters in folk-art: Preference for simple outline and choice of typically representational lines; A simplification of colors and volumes so that shading is eliminated; Stylization of motifs to create decorative elements; and Repetition of lines, of entire figures, of dots for intensive or rhythmical purposes. Following is the list of some of the main folk arts from different parts of India Madhubani Painting Folk art of Madhubani from the Mithila region [2] of north India. There are different styles developed by different castes of the region. (Examples in Appendix Pic.16a 16h) Thanka Painting Combining the magnificent beauty with spiritual vision, Tankha is painting solely dedicated to Buddha and his teachings. These represent how the Buddhists see the universe. It is generally in eight layers with the upper most layers or part depicting a deity. The rest seven are the various elements of the universe like, fire, earth, space, water and air. Colorful and geometrical, these are many a time seen as the basis of temple architecture. These paintings are done with dedication, concentration, and passion and also with the deep religious feeling of doing something directly related with the supreme power. (Example in Appendix Pic.3a, 3b) Patachitra Painting Indian art Patachitra is a pre-Islamic form of religious art. It comes from the eastern Indian state Orissa [2]. Hindu gods and goddesses and other mythological scenes are painted on a leather-like surface made of several layers of old cotton glued together. (Example in Appendix Pic.4a, 4b) Kalamkari Painting Kalamkari Literally meaning pen-work, it is the religious painting on cloth with blocks and wax resist, from the temple town of KALAHASTHI in southeast ANDHRA PRADESH [2]. (Example in Appendix Pic.5a, 5b) Warli Painting Warli is a tribal community from MAHARASHTRA, India [2]. They have made a significant contribution to the heritage of Indian tribal art. Done by both men and women, these art works show their dedication to the nature and the superpower. (Example in Appendix Pic.6a, 6b) Gond Painting Tribal painting, Gond is a freehand expression of the Gond tribes of MADHYA PRADESH, India [2]. Painted freehand, these two dimensional paintings reflect their perception of life. The third dimension, the depth is always lacking in these paintings reflecting the simplicity of the artist. Sometimes these paintings also tell how colorful their imagination can be. They put colors to the blandest creations of the nature at times. (Example in Appendix Pic.7a, 7b) Batik Painting Batik, wax resist painting from WEST BENGAL, India [2]. Meaning wax-painting in Javanese, it originated in Indonesia and later revived in WEST BENGAL, India. The creativity of the talented dyers has given it a fresh new definition. The principle of batik is a simple one, wax or a similarly resistant substance such as rice paste is used to create patterns or motifs on cloth before it is dyed or colored in some way. When the wax is finally ready to be removed, the untouched cloth beneath it stands out as the original color of the cloth. (Example in Appendix Pic.8a, 8b) Miniature Painting Folk art miniature paintings inspired by the graceful romantic life style of the Mughals [4]. These paintings show one moment at a time and in minute details. The love scenes, the court scenes, various solitary women, animals, flowers all were closely observed and reproduced simultaneously. (Example in Appendix Pic.9a, 9b) Santhal Art The Santhal tribe, one of the famous tribes belonging to the Bihar state of India [2], has a typical style of painting, known as Santhal paintings. The bodies of the various forms that they paint are seldom or perhaps never in one shade, they are always striped, dotted or filled with any other geometrical pattern. They are done on a handmade paper with poster colors. The topics are selected from the natural surroundings or just from the happenings of their day-to-day lives. (Example in Appendix Pic.10a, 10b) Phad Art RAJASHTAN, an Indian state [2], the land of colors is known for Phad painting, which is done on cloth. This type of painting is mainly found in the BHILWARA district. The main theme of these paintings is the depiction of local deities and their stories, and legends of erstwhile local rulers. Phad is a type of scroll painting. These paintings are created while using bright and subtle colors. (Example in Appendix Pic.11a, 11b) Yantra Tantra art or yantra is used as an instrument or medium of focus on a deity while meditating. It is used while performing religious ceremonies. It is a graphical representation of geometrical or abstract images such as triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons or circles. (Example in Appendix Pic.12a, 12b) Chittara Chittara, meaning picture is an expression of the village artists of KARNATAKA India [2]. Chittara is done on handmade paper. This paper is coated with mud first and then the desired color of the background is given to it by various colors extracted from the natural objects. The color red is procured by grinding a special red stone, the color black is procured by grinding burnt rice and soaking it in water for few days, mud and rice paste gives white. (Example in Appendix Pic.13a, 13b) Introduction to MADHUBANI Paintings Painting is generally done by folk artists or classical artists in three ways: wall-painting (BHITTI-CITRA), canvas-painting (PATA-CHITRA) and floor-painting (ARIPANA). Of these the wall-painting and the floor-painting are very popular in MITHILA region [2]. The Wall-painting or mural paintings, popularly known as MITHILA painting or MADHUBANI painting. MADHUBANI, literally meaning from the forest of honey is the name of the village from where comes the MADHUBANI paintings. Situated in the interior of northern India, this art is the expression of creativity in the day-to-day life of the local people. Done mainly by the females of the family, this art is regarded as a part of daily ritual. Initially all vegetable dyes were used for the paintings but today they have access to the variety of poster colors to cater to their needs and to enable them for more experiments with colors. The estimated date cant be traced back to the actual era that brought MADHUBANI art in to existence. It is however centuries old art that is associated with the normal lives of the villagers. In that region it is believed that every morning the worshipped deity comes invisibly to the household to bless the members of the family and also to bring more prosperity. So this art started as a welcome painting for deities. It started from the entrance floor and the exterior of the house. Passed from mothers to their daughters, the art of MADHUBANI has constantly been improving in its quality. As this tradition was initialized with a purpose of decorating the exterior of the house, the walls and the floor always served as the canvas. Floor-painting (ARIPANA) The art of ARIPANA or floor-painting has been handed down from generation to generation. There is not a single house in MITHILA in which ceremonies are held without ARIPANA. The women of MITHILA specialize in drawing circular patterns of designs with a white liquid paste made of ground rice mixed with water. Sometimes vermilion is also applied, besides white, red, green, yellow and black colors. In various ARIPANA designs, they have the images of gods and goddess painted on different shapes and forms with multiple colors, reflecting the artists originality and imagination. ARIPANA is an indigenous word, which means the art of drawing embankment or wall. The word is derived from ALIMPANA or ALEPANA (of Sanskrit origin) and though grammatically correct, it falsifies the real origin of the word [5]. (Example of ARIPANA art in Appendix. Pic.14a, 14b) The land and people North of the river Ganges, in the state of BIHAR [2] lies a land called MITHILA, shaded by old mango groves and watered by melt water rivers of NEPAL [2] (Indian neighbor country) and the Himalayas. MITHILA has played a noteworthy part in the political and cultural life of ancient India. It is a land full of the beauty of landscape in sharp contrast to the ugliness of poverty in which its people, most of whom are talented painters, live, who accept their fate, good or bad, and paint for painting sake. It is said that altogether MITHILA was the home where the enlightened and the learned might always find a generous patron, peace and safety, where courts were devoted to learning and culture and where poets and philosophers lived in honor and affluence. Even though women in the villages around MADHUBANI have been practicing their folk art for centuries, the world at large has come to know about these women and to consider them to be artists only in the last forty years. Even now, most of their work remains anonymous. The women, most of them illiterate, are reluctant to consider themselves individual producers of works of art and only a few of them mark the paintings with their own name. Among the first modern outsiders to document the tradition of MADHUBANI painting were William and Mildred Archer. Mr. Archer was a British civil servant assigned to the district during the colonial era (till 1947). The Archers obtained some drawings on paper that the women painters were using as aids to memory. Works that the Archers collected went to the India Records Office in London (now part of the British Library) where a small number of specialists could study them as creative instances of Indias folk art [6]. The women painters in MADHUBANI lived in a closed society and were unwilling to paint openly. Eventually due to a drought (1966-68) in the surrounding areas of MITHILA that resulted in severe economic crisis women began to commercialize their art. The All India Handicrafts Board [7] encouraged the women artists to produce their paintings on handmade paper for commercial sale. The government of India, the state government of Bihar and the regional craft guilds has all come in together to initiate the productions and marketing for these women painters. This sudden change in the form of art and its presentation has enabled the world to discover a new form of art with an enviable linkage to the lives of women [8]. The Style of painting This style of painting belongs to North Bihar. In keeping with the tradition under which it began, the style is replete with symbols of fertility like the lotus plant, the bamboo grove, birds, fish, etc. in union. The art shifted to drawing paper in the 1960s, and this brought with it a new freedom and creativity. Paper is movable and economically feasible too. Figures from nature mythology are adapted to suit this style. The themes designs widely painted are the worship of Hindu deities such as KRISHNA, RAMA, SIVA, DURGA, LAKSHMI, SARASWATI, Sun and Moon, TULSI (basil) plant, court scenes, wedding scenes, social happenings around them, etc. Floral, animal and bird motifs, geometrical designs are used to fill up all the gaps. There is hardly any empty space in this style. The skill is handed down the generations, and hence the traditional designs and patterns are widely maintained. One of the main features of MITHILA paintings is simplicity. All that is required for the artist is a suitable surface, ordinary paints, and local brushes. Preliminary sketching is hardly required in MITHILA paintings because the outlines are developed in a single sweep of the brush. Tools Used No sophisticated tools are needed in MADHUBANI paintings. Artists are still unacquainted with the modern brush. The traditional brush is made from a bamboo-twig by wrapping the twig up with a piece of cloth or by having its end frayed in such a way that the fiber looks like a bundle of hair. Color Scheme The artists prepare the colors. Black is obtained by mixing soot with cow dung; yellow from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the KUSUM flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple tree; white from rice powder; orange from PALASHA flowers. The raw materials were mixed with goats milk and juice from bean plants. Today green, blue, red and orange have been added to these colors. The colors are applied flat with no shading. There is normally a double line drawn for the outlines, with the gap between the lines filled by cross or straight tiny lines. In the linear painting, no colors are applied. Only the outlines are drawn. Some villages only produce black ink drawings. Other villages use pink, yellow, blue, red and parrot green, each paint mixed with the traditional goats milk. Impact of Hindu religion and mythology in Indian folk arts Hinduism Religion has been a definitive influence on Indian Art. Hindu Paintings featuring Hindu gods, Hindu goddesses, and the various Hindu pantheons are one of the most prominent symbols of Indian and Hindu Art. Hindu god/goddess in branding In India, manufacturers try to affect the psyche of consumer, by branding an item with the names and images of Hindu deities. They bring the premium image of a God and His virtues and associate them to their product, thus exploiting the mass recognition of well-established imagery of the God to boost product branding. The beauty of this strategy lies in the fact that the companies using Gods images do not have to be concerned about any kind of intellectual property issues like copyright, thus enjoying an immense credibility just by virtue of having connected their name to a venerated name. This kind of branding shows the popularity of god/goddess images in India and the corporate/legal freedom of their use. Manufacturers use images and names of Hindu Gods on product labels and promotion materials to attract buyers attention. Even in America some of the phone card companies like MCI, which target Indian consumers, print Gods images on its international phone cards and sometimes even t he phone card itself is named after a God. In India the largest group of advertisers are the food marketers, followed by marketers of drugs and cosmetics, soaps, automobiles, tobacco, appliances, and oil products. All of these companies somehow associate their products virtues with the virtues of a God and try to sell it to the consumer, who can very well relate to the image presented. For instance, Indian jewelers use image and name of Goddess LAXMI, who is considered the ruler of all material wealth extensively. One of the most famous names among jewelry shops in India is: Maha Laxmi Jewelers. (Examples of some Ads and products in Appendix. Pic.17a 17j) Forms and symbols in MADHUBANI Paintings The motifs of the designs include conventionalized flora and fauna, circles in series, spiral or curvilinear devices, series of short lines, foot-points of fragmentary (imaginative) pictures illustrating legends and stories, giving glimpses of environmental and natural life. While the religious paintings include various gods and goddess, the secular and decorative paintings contain various symbols of prosperity and fertility such as elephant, horse, fish, lion, parrot, turtle, bamboo, lotus, flower, PURAINA leaves, PANA, creepers, SWASTIKA etc. Besides, we also come across in these paintings aspects of agricultural animal life, which plays an important role in the rural economy of MITHILA. The animal, in fact, is a duplicate representation of energy and character of God. Thus, the subject matter generally falls into two groups: (1) A series of heavenly forms. (2) A series of strictly selected vegetables and animal forms. For different occasions, they have different forms and symbols attached to these paintings. Wedding Paintings At weddings, the following objects the sun and moon, a bamboo-tree, a circle of lotuses, parrots, turtle and fish come into prominence. These paintings draw their themes mostly from the PURANAS and epics. The most prominent image looming largest on the walls are the bamboo-tree and the ring of lotus, the KAMALAVANA or PURAINA. The focus is on fertility, and the marvelously intricate diagrams of the KAMALAVANA, the PURAINA and the forest of bamboos are, as pointed out by Archer, MANDALAS and diagrams of the generative organs. The lotus circle is not only a lotus but also the symbol of the brides sex, while the bamboo-tree is a bamboo, it also represents the phallus. (Although sometimes it is said that the women artists iconize the husbands patrilineage as a stand of bamboo.) In other words, lotus is a female and bamboo is a male. According to Archer, the latent symbolism reaches its height in the many paintings in which the bamboo-tree is depicted not as aloof and apart but as driven through the center of a clinging circle [9]. There are also minor symbols of parrots, turtles, fish, sun and the moon. In Indian context, the parrots symbolize the lovebirds and they feature constantly as images of the bride and bridegroom in folk songs and poetry. Turtles also have a significant place because they associate water with all its beneficent power with marriage, their strange shape being diagrammatic of the lovers union and their head and tail emerging from the shell looks like the exact counterparts of the bamboo plunging in the lotus. Then, there are fishes which are emblems of fertility and, finally we have sun and moon who are inserted because of their life-giving qualities. (Example of marriage art known as KOHBAR in Appendix. Pic.16a 16h) About the MADHUBANI painting Artists: Baua Devi Baua Devi is one of the most respected artists in the MITHILA community, and certainly the most successful. She lives in JITWARPUR, the village where she was born. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout India as well as the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris and at the MITHILA Museum in Tokamachi, Japan [10]. Also, at the MATRIX show at UC Berkeley Art Museum, 1997 [11] included two mural-scale paintings by Baua Devi, one depicting the life of KRISHNA, the other, a festival around a pond in a Mithila village. The scope of MADHUBANI paintings, its popularity in India and in other parts of the world MADHUBANI Painting has lately received much attention and popularity. There are quite a few websites devoted to MADHUBANI painting. I simply would like to add that the credit for bringing recent and massive popularity to this art form goes, in large measure, to the Lalit Narayan Mishra. In his capacity as the Minister for Railways in Mrs. Indira Gandhis cabinet, reproductions of these paintings adorned the coaches of many fast and super-fast trains. [12] Copies of the paintings became a hot-selling item for both native and foreign travelers. The reproductions could be found in plenty, for instance, among the hawkers in the bustling street side market along the JANPATH in New Delhi, India a must for the foreign tourist! Credit is due also to Mr. Bhaskar Kulkarni, erstwhile member of the Indian Handicrafts Federation. He was the first to organize an exhibition of this school of paintings at New Delhi in 1967 [13]. This brought instant international recognition. Folk art is having a tr easure house of symbolic language to contribute as a gift to Modern art. Folk in a sense carries the connotation of anonymity, collective wisdom, spontaneity and simplicity. With the development of Anthropology a new awareness has come into understanding the primitive and folk traditions. Anthropology has proved that regionalism in art is not against internationalism. [14] Conclusion MADHUBANI paintings are popular because of their tribal motifs and use of bright earthy colors. I would like to explore how these unique features of folk art could be successfully translated into the form of Animation. Based on my research I have these findings about MADHUBANI PAINTINGS characteristics: -The figures are recognizable by a face in profile while the rest of the body faces the front. -The face has one very large eye and a bumpy sort of nose coming out of the forehead. -The figure outlines are drawn as a double line with diagonal hatching between them. -The borders are highly decorated either geometrically or with ornate floral patterns. -Clothing also is highly decorated with geometrical, floral or even animal patterns. -The drawings of animals are easily recognized for what they are, but again tend to be very stylized. -The forms and symbols in these paintings have their own significance and different forms and symbols are used on different occasions. -There could be different interpretations of symbols and its uses. -These paintings have a limited number of colors and each color has its own meaning. Artists prepare the colors applied. -The artist uses traditional brushes (made from a bamboo-twig) for drawing. With time medium has changed. Originally these paintings were done on walls in villages. Later, the artists successfully transferred their techniques of wall painting to the medium of paper. Now most of the artists use watercolors and handmade papers. At the same time they maintain the characteristics and style of paintings although the medium has changed. In order to create a new source of non-agricultural income, different organizations encourages the artists to produce their traditional paintings on handmade paper for commercial sale. This way now it also widely spread. Even in the more recent work on paper, the themes are normally the Hindu Gods and Goddesses and stories from Hindu mythology. They exhibit their paintings throughout India as well as different parts of the world. Now with the advent of digital tools like Macromedia Flash, which can produce the similar kind of drawings using different combinations of pencil and brush strokes. Use of digital tools also makes these dr awings faster and more effectively as these paintings has lots of repetitive patterns. So we can say, transferring the techniques of wall painting to the medium of paper gained these paintings more popularity and recognition. Same way I strongly feel that when these styles and characteristics of MADHUBANI paintings will be transformed into digital medium, such as animation, it will take the paintings to the next level, where these folk art styles will be used by more and more digital artists from India and all over the world. End Notes [1] Based on the art history timeline the art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC . However based on the recent findings, An archaeological site off Indias western coast may be up to 9,000 years old. The revelation comes about 18 months after acoustic images from the sea-bed suggested the presence of built-up structures resembling the ancient Harappan civilization, which dates back around 4,000 years. . [2] States from India. Map of India Appendix Pic.15 [3] Thakur, Upendra, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1982. [4] Roy, The Bratas of Bengal, The RANGOLI or ARIPANA, KOLAM or MURGGY, as it is known in Bombay (now Mumbai), TAMILNADU and ANDHRA, is a pleasing decoration of the ground. [5] The Mughals ruled in India from 1526 to 1857. The Mughal period can be called a classical age in northern India. In this cultural development, the Indian traditions were amalgamated with the Turko-Iranian culture, brought to the country by the Mughals. [6] Gene R. Thursby, University of Florida . [7] Ministry of Textiles (Govt of India) [8] Madhubani Painting Workshop Brochure. . [9] Archer, W.G., MADHUBANI Paintings. Mumbai, 1998. [10] The Mithila Museum in Tokamachi, Japan. . [The Mithila Museum is housed in a converted schoolhouse in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, situated in Japans snow country. Here approximately 850 Mithila paintings, more than 300 paintings that the Mithila artists created in Japan, Warli paintings by an aboriginal group in India, and Indian teracotta statues and figurines, are exhibited on a permanent basis.] [11] Baua Devi and the Art of Mithila. . MATRIX: August 15 through October 26, 1997 at the UC Berkeley Art Museum. [This is the first United States exhibition of paintings on paper by the Indian artist Baua Devi. The exhibition also includes a selection of works by other artists from the Mithila region of northeastern India. Baua Devis paintings explore an array of personal and mythological themes. An image, which she has come to adopt as her own is the nag kanya, or snake maiden, a creature with the torso and head of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a snake. The nag kanya resembles the snake goddess Manasa, whose attributes echo those of the key Hindu god Shiva. The nag kanya also derives from the real snakes that occupy the watery region where Baua Devi lives.] [12] Railways in North Bihar. . [13] Mr. Bhaskar Kulkarni. . [14] The Art of Folk Tradition. . References Thakur, Upendra, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, n.d. Thakur, Upendra, History of MITHILA. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, n.d. Jain, Jyotindra, Ganga Devi: Tradition and Expression in Mithila Painting. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd., 1997. [A fine book on a leading artist who practiced what is sometimes called the Kayastha style of MADHUBANI painting.] Vequaud, Yves, The Women Painters of Mithila. London: Thames and Hudson, 1977. [A book that contributed to and then reflected the worldwide popularity of MADHUBANI painting.] Osaki, Norio, MADHUBANI Paintings. Kyoto Shoin, 1998. Shearer, Alistair. The Hindu Vision: Forms of the Formless. Thames Hudson, 1993. Aldred, Gavin. Indian Firework Art. Trafalgar Square, 2000 Prakash, K. Authentic Folk Designs from India. New Delhi: Dover Pubns, 1995. Dawson, Barry. Street Graphics India. Thames Hudson, 2001. Archer, W.G., MADHUBANI Paintings. Mumbai, 1998. Anand, Mulk Raj, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 1984. Online exhibit of MADHUBANI Paintings. . About an Artist.. The MAITHILI BRAHMANS: An Online Ethnography.. Marketing God: About religious content on Indian television.

Analysis of Willie Stark’s Life as a Politician Essay

Can it be right to do wrong? Can we have a square circle? Can we move backwards and forwards at the same time? During Plato’s time (c. 429-347 B.C.) a long discussion had begun and carried throughout the Middle Ages that affirmed that the ruler ought to embody noble ideals and values. This tradition focuses on the virtues of justice and mercy as essential for good government. However, during the Renaissance period the author Niccolo Machiavelli turned away from these traditions and considers in The Prince what is necessary to be successful in a corrupt world. Machiavelli proclaims in his book The Prince, â€Å"A man who wishes to make a profession in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary†¦to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case†. Essentially, it is the situation at the moment that determines which actions are necessary. For Machiavelli, the goal is success, not the virtue or vice of the act. He does not advocate that the successful prince should always violate the rights of others but, rather, calculate what course of action will enhance the strength and vitality of the state. In the book All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, the character Willie Stark is similar to the prince; he exemplifies and exercises Machiavelli’s ideals. In All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, Machiavelli’s ideals are dealt with through the political career of Willie Stark, a man that was transformed from an idealist to an opportunist because of power, a man who ultimately was assassinated, but not before he could achieve the goodness he sought to make possible. Willie Stark, the son of a farmer, began his political career when becoming the County Treasurer of Mason City. As the Treasurer of Mason City, he was an idealist, guided more by ideals than practical considerations. Willie Stark remained an idealist up until he discovered the truth about politics. He than started to believe that goodness derives from evil because there is nothing else from which to make it. This idea comes from the mature, disillusioned Willie, who had become a tough-minded politician after losing his first political job and after discovering he was manipulated by the bosses who wanted to split rural votes. After he learned about the scheme and analyzing the situation, Willie Stark realized what Machiavelli’s theory proclaimed, â€Å"A man who wishes to make a profession in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good†. Willie encountered and experienced the â€Å"grief among so many who are not good,† he encountered Harrison and his men and their political methods to try and win an election which was all made possible by corrupt men, bad men. This was a turning point in Willie’s career and life since he how believed, â€Å"Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud.† As he sees it, goodness is not an inherent human characteristic. People, basically, are prone to corruption and evil. Goodness has to be made. Because of the scheme Willie’s blindfold he had as an idealist was gone and he now knew that politics were not at all what he though it to be and that he had to change the way he was conducting his political campaign if he was to get anything done around here. Although Willie withdrew his name from the ballot for the Governor race, he still came out of that ordeal as a winner. Stark exposed the dirty tricks of Harrison and his men and in the process gained support from the public, therefore leading to his ultimate election for Governor the second time he ran for the position. By this time Willie, â€Å"learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He exposed to the public the corrupt men of Harrison who coerced him to run for Governor only to be â€Å"used and abused in the process;† by blowing the whistle Willie became a bad man who turned against the people who helped him come into the political spot light. Instead of being seen with bad eyes, the public sympathized with him. With all the sympathy he gained Willie managed to win the race for Governor. Once Willie became Governor he became an opportunist because of the lack of support he received and because his power was growing. Willie essentially started off as a man who rose to power by offering to save the people from their distress, during his struggles, he became corrupted by power. Willie became corrupted because he realized that in order for him to help out the people he wanted to help out the most, he had to play a â€Å"little dirty†. He was forced to bribe the state legislators in order to get his bills passed; he even went as far as blackmailing some in order to achieve his goals. Willie Stark exemplifies Machiavelli’s discourse, â€Å"to learn †¦ not to be good †¦and not use it, according to the necessity of the case†. He was vicious and ruthless at times to his enemies and then he befriended those who opposed him within the state legislator. He learned when it was appropriate to be good to people and when it was necessary to be bad to people according to each situation because he could not afford to unbalance one with the other since both were essential for being a great governor. Willie Stark was an opportunist because of power. As Machiavelli’s theory stated one must use the knowledge of when to be good and when to be bad, â€Å"according to the necessity of the case,† and when the situation presented itself, Willie was ready to follow accordingly. When the plan to build a hospital presented itself, Willie wanted to keep the hospital clean, he did not want politics involved with the hospital especially , corrupt contractors. That is why Willie did not want to give Gummy Larson, a corrupt contactor to build his hospital. In this case Willie became a bad man who turned on a man that was much like him. Both had been involved in dirty politics, but now Willie chose to be a bad man in order to keep his hospital free from corruption and politics. While dealing with this situation, Willie also chose to be a good man by trying to persuade Adam Stanton, a romantic and idealist to be the Director of his hospital, but when Adam refused the offer, Willie indirectly used incriminating information about his father, a former governor who was involved in a bribe and cover up, in order to convince him to accept the position. Ironically, Adam Stanton, the man Willie wanted to Direct his hospital ended up assassinating him. In return Willie’s men ended up killing Adam. Both were destined to kill each other since they were complete opposites, one was a man of ideas and the other was a man of fact. In the end, by the author of All the King’s Men adhering Willie’s life to Machiavelli theory of how a ruler should govern and obey by; Willie life was destined to become righteous and end up dying because of it. Willie wanted to help out the poor by building a school house, a hospital for the poor, and reworking the state’s tax structure in favor of the poor. But by the means he achieved these goals were wrong and bad which ultimately lead to his death. Even a man who wants to do good things, but uses bad methods ends up paying a harsh price for being bad while trying to do some good. In conclusion, Willie Stark was a character of good intentions who becomes tainted by the system. He was a human being who had dreams, a family he loved, and passions he yields to, among them a desire for power. The author, Warren shows Willie as a man torn between his visions of an ideal society and stark reality- what it takes in the real world to fulfill one’s dreams. Willie sacrifices his ideals for action. He is a man of stark fact, and he wants results. In the end, Willie reevaluates his life’s goals. But it is too late for change. Willie is not given a second chance. For Willie’s political activity is much like Machiavelli political activity which is like a game of chess with its rules, its proven gambits, and its successful strategies. The master player knows how to exploit the weaknesses and blunders of his opponents to maximum advantage. The goal is finding the best move, the move that wins. The qualities needed to win may be judged as vices by others, but, as Machiavelli puts it in The Prince, they are â€Å"the vices by which you are able to rule.† The crimes committed in order to preserve one’s country are â€Å"glorious crimes.† Willie essential would have believed, â€Å"a multitude is more easily governed by humanity and gentleness than by haughtiness and cruelty,† the point is that a wise ruler does whatever is necessary.

Sample Agreements for Reference

A business agreement is a legal document which includes the information on essential obligations and duties of the members of the particular agreement. In other words, it is a contract the content of which can vary depending on a sphere and purpose of the mutual arrangement. The most important parts of the sample agreements are the members of the relationships, duties, requirements and obligations, terms and conditions sections. This agreement becomes valid from the 1st of July, 2016, between an employer Cooper Green and an employee David Preston. In case the Employer wishes to acquire the advantage of the services of the Employee, and the Worker wishes to present such services on the terms and conditions put forward. 1. Employment. The Employee agrees that he will comply conscientiously, studiously, and to the best of his knowledge, skills, ability, talents, and experience, all of the requirements necessary for the position. In performing these requirements and duties, the Employee will carry out all Employer rules and regulations, procedures as are declared by the Employer. 2. Position. As an Executive Editor, the Employee is required to comply duties and carry responsibilities, such as: To write a cover story for the weekly magazine. To organize the work of the Writers’ Department and check it according to their responsibilities, which can be found in the Recruitment Department. To conduct editing and proofreading of the articles written by the writers. To approve the issue of the weekly magazine. 3. Payment. As compensation for the services performed, the employee is to be paid at the rate of $3000. The bonus system depeneds on the personal achievements of the Executive Editor. The salary written in paragraph (1) are to be reviewed annually. All valid costs emerging out of work should be compensated assuming same have been approved before to being brought about and with the provision of suitable receipts. 4. Vacation. The Employee is to be permitted to vacations in the extent of 3 weeks per calendar year. 5. Benefits. The Employer should at its refund give the Employee the Health Plan that is actually in place. 6. Trial Period. It is agreed that the first ninety days of employment are to be the trial period during which the Employer may determine the employment, for any reason without cause. 7. Performance Reviews. The Employee have to be provided with a written perfomance testing at least one time a year and the performance will be reviewed specifically all aspects of the evaluation can be discussed. 8. Termination. The Employee may terminate the agreement by providing not less than two weeks written legal notice to the Employer. The Employer may terminate the agreement anytime, without notice or payment in place of notice, for satisfactory cause. The Employer may terminate the employment without the necessity to show satisfactory cause accordant to (2), in case the Employer pays to the Employee an amount as written in the Employment Standards Act 2000. This payment is to include the employees full entitlement proceeding from the termination. The employee agrees to redeem any property of the company at the time of termination. 9. Laws. The agreement will be regulated by the Laws of Oklahoma state.

Difference Between Drug Use And Drug Abuse - 1515 Words

Explain what is meant by the â€Å"drug abuse continuum†? Explain each of the levels on the continuum. How does the continuum help to explain the difference between drug use and drug abuse? Drug abuse continuum is referred to the stages of substances abuse and usage. This theory is to assess where a person is at in their drug abuse. It helps rate, which treatment is proper, if needed. The stages defined in the continuum are non-use, experimental use, and culturally endorsed us. They are also known as social use, recreational use and compulsive use, which is dependent. The non-use stage is where a person has made the choice, or decision to not, take any sort of substance for personal, health or cultural reasons. The experimental use is where a person has begun to explore substances, and is only experimenting now just to ease curiosity. The culturally endorsed users are usually members of a culture, which accept and encourage the continued drug use. The recreational use stage i s only a stage where substances are social or casually used, typically used during an event. In the compulsive use stage, users have become regular and frequent users, due to becoming dependent on the substance. When they do not have any substance consummation, they experience negative effects and withdrawals. This user spends a lot of time and energy obtain and using drugs. This user is known as a drug abuser. 2. a) Give a one-sentence explanation of each of the three categories of psychoactive drugsShow MoreRelatedDrug and Alcohol Use by Student Athletes Essay1057 Words   |  5 PagesDrug and Alcohol Use by Student Athletes The topic that I have chosen is student athletes use of drugs and alcohol. Im interested to see if the old theory that student athletes tend to stay away from these things still holds true today. From my own personal experience as a former high school and college football player, I doubt that this is true. 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