Preview

Tallys Corner

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1071 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tallys Corner
Tally's Corner Chapter 4 Essay
Marriage, a sacred union in which two hearts join as one. The foundation of marriage can be summarized as love, trust, honor, respect, and hopefully monogamy. Chapter four of the text focuses on marriages among Streetcorner men. Their distaste for the sacred union becomes apparent in this chapter. The men express their experience of coercion into getting married and their thoughts on why marriages fail. As Liebow pens their justifications he provides the reader with his own explanation on the demise of matrimony among these men.
Liebow states the “public fiction of coercion” is these men pronounce publicly they are being forced into marriage, when in fact each married man willingly agreed to their nuptials. The corner men unanimously didn’t understand the purpose of getting married if it was not being forced. As the married men told their stories of their enforced nuptials, Liebow proved each wrong with the example of how they were giving an option. For example Robert reason of marrying Siserene was because of the competition from another man who was willing to marry her and take her away from Robert. When in fact Siserene had already declined the other man’s proposal and was residing with Robert when he asked for her hand in marriage. Another case would be Leroy and Charlene. Leroy stated that his was under the pressure of Charlene’s mother, the social worker, and the women at the clinic to marry Charlene during her pregnancy. While it is a fact that they did pressured him, Charlene herself offered to delay the wedding. This was to give Leroy time to contemplate the possibility of marriage until after the baby was born to be free of any feeling of obligation. Even the notion that men are forced into marriage because of premarital pregnancies is semi true. Majority of these men had children by woman whom they did not marry prior to their marriage. Other men on the corner had children by women that they supported

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    According to Elizabeth Freeman “Marriage” has two simultaneous but incompatible functions. She explains the two factors are to determine property and economic interests and the ultimate symbol of intimacy in the emotional lives of people. Nonetheless, she perceived the contradictory affects between the institutions of marriage regulated by both church and state and whether the marriage is a matter of love or law. The United States saw marriages as a template for the ideal society as a form of ownership.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Against Love”: immediately controversy is conveyed by the title of Laura Kipnis’ article on modern relationships. The reader is put on the defensive as Kipnis starts her argument with strong metaphors attacking one of the most basic human interactions that we see as natural and embrace without question. Namely, love, a word held in superposition between complex and simple. Kipnis argues it has been overrated and too much is sacrificed in the pursuit of making it last. Defining her own terms that apply to most relationships such as “advanced intimacy” and “mutuality” she provides a new perspective on old notions. Her tone throughout is consistently sarcastic but make no mistake, Kipnis is addressing a real issue on what we value as a society. Descriptive language is Kipnis’ fishing line that keeps you reading, often creating vivid and objectionable images that no one can avoid cringing at. Concepts surrounding love and the ideal couple change from age to age and from culture to culture but Kipnis doesn’t disregard this. She compares today’s norms to historical precedence as she identifies the shift from focusing on the convenience of financially organized marriages to the achievement of unending life-long love. Kipnis’ article presents a fascinating argument by proposing an idea…

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Not that he meant to sell me, but he did this to please his wife and to frighten me.” When reflecting on this incident it causes me to question why exactly was Mrs.Wood so displeased with Mary Prince and why was her husband willing to act as if he so willing to get rid of her. One can only speculate since Mary Prince does not speak of any sexual encounters between herself and her master. When consulting Bell Hooks’ book, Ain’t I woman, she suggests that “Most white woman regarded black women who were objects of their husbands’ sexual assaults with hostility and rage.” When moving forward through Mary Prince’s narrative we find again that is becomes ill and Mrs.Wood is so dissatisfied with her work that she complains to her husband again. He in turn sent her away to find someone else to buy her. This time, however, Mary Prince was prepared. “I went to Mr.Burchell, showed him the note, and asked him to buy me for my own benefit; for I had saved about 100 dollars, and hoped with a little help, to purchase my freedom.” Again Mr.Woods takes back his note and in return takes back the idea of Mary Prince being set free. Mary Prince goes on for years having these types of incidents with the Wood family. Eventually, on a trip to England with the Woods she is set free, but not without consequence. While in England Mr.Wood gave Mary Prince an ultimatum, either she…

    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Moore heartlessly concludes that this innocent, yet mistaken belief of public promises result in meaningless contradiction of private commitment. “’Marriage” is obscure for these reasons, for the brevity of its insights and the lack of smooth transitions between them” (Hadas 106). Marianne Moore has a “conventions inconsistency” state of mind that shows throughout the poem “Marriage.” The tone of “Marriage” is constantly changing tones, it seems to respond to itself and its own need to leave and unsatisfactory phase of life. Unlike most Moore understands “marriage” as a set of attitudes and not as an event that has taken place between two people. Moore expresses that her beliefs on “marriage” are concerned with mental not physical actions.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Corner Of Hell

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Small Corner of Hell by Anna Politkovskaya was originally published in 2002, from Zakharov Publishers (The University of Chicago Press in this version). Politkovskaya, a journalist and activist, collected many of the stories and accounts of people during the Second Chechen War, which began in 1999. The book was one of the major impacts that was revealed to the rest of the world about Chechnya, and the large-scale human rights abuses occurring there. It contains 224 pages, and in each, she reveals the tragedies suffered by all people during this war, but especially of Chechen civilians. Politkovskaya was murdered in 2006, thus making her and her works very controversial, yet incredibly vital in the practice of wartime journalism. She was a…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage is the social institution in which a man and a woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitment and, often, by religious ceremony. This institution assures that the most basic fabric of a society remains intact. Nonetheless, those who have actually taken the vows of matrimony realize that a successful marriage requires so much more than an understanding of the dictionary definition. They know that this powerful commitment is the most intimate manner in which to show not only one’s love for another, but also one’s steadfast honor in remaining true to this lifetime promise. In Tobias Wolff’s “Say Yes,” a wife and her husband, while washing the dinner dishes, find themselves straying onto the topic of interracial marriage. Quickly, the tension between the two escalates into more than just an everyday chat. Wolff’s domestic tale explores a marriage in which a wife’s gentle spirit is juxtaposed against the belligerent aggression of her husband; Ann’s passive ingenuity in confronting her husband’s superficiality renders hope that their love will endure.…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The author begins right away by appealing to pathos in the first paragraph. She does so by mentioning the traditional values of marriage. She talks about the sanctity of marriage and how it is traditionally defined as between a man and a woman. By doing this she is appealing to her audience’s emotions in hopes that they will connect with the traditional values. This is especially effective considering that most of the readers of the Wall Street Journal are at an age that it is common for most of them to be married.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women like Curley’s wife were looked as possessions to be owned, who were void of feeling, and could not feel the effects of loneliness. African Americans like Crooks were discriminated against and left unincluded, on account of the color of their skin. “I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 81). Crooks is berated with threats from Curley’s wife and derogatory language from other workers on the ranch. “A lifelong victim of segregation of social ostracisms, Crooks lives in constant fear of inadvertently breaking society’s ridgid taboos” (Bloom). The rigidness of society in 1930’s drives Crooks to distance himself from others and, Curley’s wife to seek company with others. Steinbeck uses these thematic ideas to depict the difficulty of social life for some of those when lived in the 1930’s to the…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marrying Absurd Analysis

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the essay, Didion highlights the destruction of marital traditions in Las Vegas using diction. Marriage is viewed as the joining of two lives as one, not a commercial venture. Didion…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curleys Wife

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages

    hi... idk what to write I just need to view one essay so blah blah blah hhehehehehehe fjsfjsopfjg the end.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The man in Charles Dickens' book wishes to marry the proposed for one reason: love. "You know what I am going to say. I love you... what I mean is that I am under the influence of some tremendous attraction..." (lines 1-4) He can not control his desires; he has tried and failed. He must marry, and he shall do whatsoever she may wish to accomplish the feat. "You could draw me to fire, you could draw me to water, you could draw me to the gallows, you could draw me to any death, you could draw me to anything I have most avoided, you could draw me to any exposure…

    • 553 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He reinforces that “Marriage, the Supreme Court declared in 1967, is ‘one of the basic civil rights of men’ (and, presumably of woman as well). The freedom to marry, said the Court, is “essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness” (Stoddard 722). The choice whether or not to wed belongs strictly to each individual person. Marriage is not just an emblematic formality. Marriage initiates rights, privileges and entitles partners to group insurance, pension plans and tax advantages (Stoddard 722). In addition, “Marriage creates families and promotes social stability. In an increasingly loveless world, those who wish to committed themselves to a relationship founded upon devotion should be encouraged, not scorned” (Stoddard…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curley’s wife is an important element of the theme of loneliness expressed throughout the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’. Unhappily married to an aggressive man, her only opportunity for interaction with others comes from the other men on the ranch, who believe her to be a ‘tart’. Her desperation for companionship is shown through her response to the men when she says, “I ain’t giving you no trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Think I like to stick in this house alla time?” Here Steinbeck uses rhetorical questioning to convey the deep loneliness she experiences on the ranch and to call upon the responder to reflect on Curley’s wife’s situation, considering things from her point of view. She feels weak because of her situation, and therefore feels the need to lash out at others in order to assert her power over those weaker than herself. This is exemplified when she says to Crooks, “Listen, Nigger… I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” The colloquial and explicit language in the direct speech conveys her cruelness towards Crooks, and the fact that she lashes out at Crooks to exhibit…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marriage continues to be a popular institution in the United States. Although looking at the statistics in regard to marriage today you can see how commitment to marriage is faltering. Due to over half of all marriages ending in divorce, the institution of marriage and what it represents is continually coming into question. In researching different theories in Sociology, the central idea of symbolic interactionism, and how we attach meanings to symbols, is the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with each other. This theory was researched by sociologist Herbert Blumer. In this theory human beings respond to things based on the meanings that those things carry for them. The interpretation of what the meanings are is part of our historical social interaction. Marriage and the symbols they use to represent that commitment are lost in today’s society. Part of the reason that people don’t hold marriage to such high regard as they once did, is the symbolic interactionism that represents the sanctity and commitment of marriage has changed…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recently, I was driving and saw a sign that deeply disturbed me. A company offers divorce for ninety nine dollars uncontested. I think that this is a huge statement reflecting how flippantly society looks at the subject of divorce presently. Looking at the novel The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, the subject of divorce is looked as a scandal, sometimes even as a crime. In this novel, divorce can bring a huge stigma not only to the person going through the divorce, but also to his or her family. In the novel, Countess Ellen Olenska is wanting to divorce her husband who treated her cruelly. Yet because it is divorce, she has brought a stigma and a personal conflict to Newland Archer, who is marrying her cousin May Welland and representing her in the divorce. Since she is accused of running off with another man (a claim never proven or denied), she has been considered as committing adultery which at the time was a crime (26).…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics