Definition And Description Of Crime - 1627 Words

Introduction Criminology is the study of social sciences and criminal behavior, which is what I will be talking about in this essay. The main topic of my essay is homicide, which I will define and describe in the next paragraph. I will talk about the criminology theories that pertain to homicide, and a famous killer that can help the reader better understand what the theories actually mean and how they are seen in society. The last paragraph of this essay will talk about the social controls of criminals and if formal or informal social control is better. Definition and Description of crime A human being killed by another human is known as homicide. Sometimes homicide and murder can be confused with each other as murder is actually a form of criminal homicide and they are both very similar. Unlike murder other types of homicide are not considered to be a criminal act. Murder is the unjustified or inexcusable killing of another human being and is the most serious criminal offense. Someone that is convicted for murder can be sentenced to many years in prison, life in prison, no possibility of parole, and sometimes even the death penalty. There are two different types of violent crimes, expressive and instrumental. Expressive is an act of violence that vents rage, anger and frustration. An instrumental act of violence is designed to improve the social position of the criminal. Different behavioral patterns can cause someone to commit a crime as serious as murder, some peopleShow MoreRelated Racial Profiling is Necessary1040 Words   |  5 Pagesdifferent authors use different criteria for the term racial profiling, Merriam-Webster’s definition for the word racial is â€Å"of, relating to, or based on a race (Merriam-Webster, 2006; p.855).† The definition the dictionary puts forth for profiling is â€Å"the act of suspecting or targeting a person solely on the basis of observed characteristics or behavior (Merriam-Webster, 2006; p.830).† Based on these definitions, racial profiling could be defined for criminal justice purposes as targeting a personRead MoreCyberbullying Is A Major Issue1205 Words   |  5 Pagesperson’s account information to break into their account and send damaging messages, pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person, taking unflattering pictures of a person and spreading them through cell phones or the Internet. The definition of cyberbullying varies. While there are many forms, what separates it from physically bullying someone? There are many laws in place now that try to help prevent cyberbullying. Many of those laws have no effect on stopping the bullies. HarassmentRead MoreCrime and Punishment Essay1717 Words   |  7 PagesCrime at its simplest is an act prohibited by law upon pain of punishment (Hall-Williams 1964). Theorists such as McCabe (1983:49) stated that no word in legal and criminological terms could define the word crime for the varying content in which an act is categorised. Due to the broad spectrum surrounding crime, differing understandings about human subjects and premises lead to the development of several theories, assumptions and forms of criminal law. Michael and Adler (1933:2) are often citedRead MoreI Saw The Best Minds Of My Generation Destroyed By Madness1178 Words   |  5 Pageslimits during conversations like sex, drugs and love. In Allen Ginsberg’s poem titled â€Å"Howl for Carl Solomon†, Ginsberg reveals the realities of the 1950’s lifestyle specifically through the use of literary techniques such as allusions, imagery and description, expressing the emotionless lives that the citizens were living, the corruption that the US government had on society and the madness that those who were not seen as the social norm, had to face. Ginsberg is famously known for having a special twistRead MoreProfiling is a Necessary Means for Discovering and Apprehending Criminals1197 Words   |  5 Pagestypes of profiling does work and is proven to help stop crime. This paper will explore the following: profiling and different forms of it, the closely related stop and frisk policy, different cities that have proven statistics that profiling does work, how airports are now profiling, and different serial killers that have been apprehended due to work from profilers. 9/11 led to a re-evaluation of racial profiling as a means of combating crime, and terrorism. Indeed, many people who have passed throughRead MoreMyths And Reality Of Crime 2857 Words   |  3 Pagesasking 100 strangers to describe a criminal. Predict whether those descriptions would be likely to focus on street criminals, or the variety of topics covered in this video. With everything that’s going on nowadays I would say that it’s a combination of both, although it is more likely that those 100 strangers will choose the street criminals. Most people don’t know too much about the white collar or corporate crimes until it happens and maybe because it something that affects them orRead MoreFamily in â€Å"The Public Enemy (1931)†700 Words   |  3 Pagesa dynamic topic whose description has varied over time. To discuss the family and the definitions that the social unit this paper reviews and analysis the movie â€Å"The Public Enemy (1931)† produced by William. In regard to the analysis, this paper will explore the family as a social unit that is affected by the actions of each and every member in the family and the society. 　　　　The movie â€Å"The Public Enemy (1931)† revolves around the lives of two young men who venture into crime despite having solidRead MoreWho Are Stateless Persons?1253 Words   |  6 Pages3.1 Who are Stateless Persons: The 1954 Stateless Convention (hereinafter the 1954 convention) describes the definition of a stateless person and specifies the treatment to be accorded to stateless persons by contracting states. Pursuant to this Convention, stateless person is â€Å"a person who is not considered as a national by any sate under the operation of its law.† The 1954 convention provides: For the purpose of this convention, the term â€Å"stateless person† means a person who is not consideredRead MoreMoney Laundering Essay1059 Words   |  5 Pages In order to understand the definition of money laundering it is necessary to also trace its historical origin. The definition of money laundering has developed through time, especially with the various changes that are happening in the society. Traditionally, money laundering has been regarded as â€Å"a process by which criminals attempt to hide the origins and ownership of the proceeds of their criminal activities† (Hopton, 2009, p. 1). The aforementioned definition presents an objective that willRead MoreDefinition of Research1639 Words   |  7 PagesRELATOR, RUE BERYL DS. DEFINITION OF RESEARCH Research has been defined in a number of different ways. * A broad definition of research is given by Martyn Shuttleworth - In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge. * Another definition of research is given by Creswell who states - Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding

1984 The Control Of Reality For Control Of The Masses Essay

1984: The Control of Reality for Control of the Masses 3 KEY POINTS: 1. The Party Controls History 2. The Party Controls the Conditions of Human Psychology 3. The Party Controls god. How The Party Controls Reality: How does the party controls history? How does it affect the present? How does scarcity affect human psychology? What role does Big Brother play? Outline: Introduction: State Topics: The Party Controls Reality to control the people It controls History, Psychology and god. Paragraph 1: History: Explain Revisionism Its Process How it affects the present Paragraph 2: Psychology: Artificial Scarcity: Affects human behavior Maslow Theory of Human behavior Paragraph 3: God: Big Brother has taken the place of God:†¦show more content†¦Re-write in full and submit your draft to higher authority before filing.quot; (47) A former higher Inner Party hero, praised in one of Big Brothers speeches, has mysteriously fallen out of favor, and has probably been vaporized. It is not enough that the Thought Police has made him disappear. He must be removed from the records. According to the Party he has never existed - he is an Unperson. This process of continuous alteration is applied not only to newspapers, but also to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs- to every kind of literature or documentation which might hold any political or ideological significance. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence. All speeches, statistics and records of every kind must be constantly brought up-to-date in order to show that the predictions of the Party were in all cases right. With no past to compare things with, everybody is satisfied with present-day conditions. Changing the records maintains the infallibility of the Party and the Big Brother, removing facts from the records and any hint that the Party was ever wrong about anything. By controlling the past, the Party controls theShow MoreRelatedThe Linguistic Revolution:The Relation Between Class, Language, and Ideology In 1984968 Words   |  4 Pages While almost all novels contain some sort of political allusion or connotation, few novels are as directly political as George Orwells 1984. From beginning to end, the novel is an epic and shocking piece, a strong precautionary tale against the ills of extreme totalitarianism. In it, Orwell paints a dismal future, one where individualism ceases and citizens are held in rigid class structures by the government with the threat of physical harm and, more importantly, through powerful mental conditioningRead MoreReflection Paper on George Orwell‚Äà ´s Book 19841333 Words   |  6 PagesGeorge Orwell’s book, â€Å"1984,† had me convinced that such a world or society could exist. As I read I ima gined the story of the book and saw it taking place right before my eyes, word after word. I was so convinced that I had to do a little research to ensure that it was merely fiction and could not possibly be true. Any book that can make me question the existence of such a society is definitely a good one. Throughout my reading I gradually came up with my own ending to the story based off of theRead MoreMedia In George Orwells 19841262 Words   |  6 Pagesthe novel 1984, by George Orwell, which depicts an oppressive society ruled by a totalitarian government controlling. Orwell describes the ruler of this government, Big Brother, as having complete, despotic control over his subjects, including complete control over the media. While it is true most people are heavily influenced by the media, outright control can only be achieved over a collective consciousness, not the minds of individuals. Whoever controls the media can collectively control the mindsRead MoreThe Dangers of Totalit arianism1312 Words   |  6 Pages1984, a book by George Orwell, offers an alternate reality for what the future could have been. The concept of a totalitarian society is but a far off, if not long dead, ideal. In the past totalitarianism was not just an ideal but an actual living, breathing menace to people of the late 1940s. Totalitarian governments would go to horrific lengths in order to sustain and increase their power. In the novels 1984, by George Orwell, and Anthem, by Ayn Rand, propaganda, class distinction, and naivetyRead MoreThe Masses And The Dystopian Novel Elysium Essay1557 Words   |  7 PagesThe connection between these texts is they all feature compliancy of the masses, and all feature in some form of dystopian worlds. The texts all feature varying forms of dystopia, Bioshock features a dystopia brought on by evolutionary war, whereas brave new world features a world where the state has unlimited control over the technology and the people that rely on it. Paragraph 1 In Elysium, the film has an imaginary space station called â€Å"Elysium† this station hold only the most elite people, everybodyRead MoreSimilarities Between 1984 And V For Vendetta1140 Words   |  5 PagesGeorge Orwell wrote 1984 as an alternative historical book for the World War II, and V for Vendetta is a dystopian political thriller film based on 1984 DC series directed by James McTeique, and written by The Wachowskis. In 1984, the dystopian future of humanity was divided into three main lands. Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. History is centered in the life and politics of Oceania. They are from a historian sense a mixture of the Nazi party and the Socialist party. However, its ideology is basedRead More George Orwells 1984 Essay1690 Words   |  7 PagesGeorge Orwells 1984   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. These are the beliefs that the citizens of Oceania, in the novel titled 1984, written by George Orwell, live by. In this novel, Oceania, one of the three remaining world super powers, is a totalitarian, a society headed by Big Brother and his regime, known as the ministries of Truth, Love, and Peace. A totalitarian government is defined as a government characterized by a political authority which exercisesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book 1984 By George Orwell1253 Words   |  6 Pagespoint of trying to live a regular life. In the book 1984 by George Orwell nearly everyone in the book is brainwashed and given a lot of false information. Winston and other characters only provide a little bit of hope. With a little bit of hope in the brainwashed world there is still absolutely no chance for any recovery unless the upper management screws up. This hope provides nearly no chance of humanity going back to normal. In the book, 1984, Big Brother is watching over everyone at all timesRead MoreWhy Do We Have A Feeling Something Just Isn t Quite Right?783 Words   |  4 Pagesvery rarely a clear cut line between fact and fiction. For every explanation there is a counter explanation and it is left to the individual to make sense of the world around them. In the upside down and back to front west, where beliefs replace reality and an estimated 40% of Europeans suffer from some form of mental illness, shape shifting reptiles and the belief that Clinton is demonically possessed, now carry as much weight as does common sense. Marx got it wrong; it wasn’t about class,Read MoreAnalysis Of George Orwell s Brave New World 2696 Words   |  11 PagesNew World and ‘1984’. However, both authors approach their respective dystopian visions in different ways. Orwell envisioned INGSOC, a state based on security and repressive surveillance, utilising totalitarianism forms of control. Whilst Huxley depicted a society held captive by profligate consumption forcing its citizens to embrace their own oppression whilst being made blissfully ignorant by entertainment, spectacle and most importantly technology. First and foremost, ‘1984’ and ‘Brave New

Late Payment and Insurable Interest †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Late Payment and Insurable Interest. Answer: Introduction: The essentials of a valid contract are intention, consideration, capacity and consent (Kong et al. 2016). Therefore, in order to make the contract legally binding upon the contracting parties, there must be an existence of an agreement, an intention to form an agreement, consideration, capacity of the contracting parties and legal consent. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that a contract can be made verbally or in a written form (Munoz 2017). The existence of an oral assurance in a contract was first established with the help of Parole Evidence Rule. The Parole Evidence Role was first observed in the landmark cases of Sydney V Taylor (1891) 12 LR (NSW) 252 (at 262) [2] and Goss V Lord Nugent (1833) 5 B Ad 58 (at 64-65) ; 110 ER 713 (at 716). In these landmark cases, the terms of contract in relation to oral and verbal contract were determined. The Courts in such cases generally assume that the terms and requirement contained in the contract are specifically planned b y the parties however; lacked the confidence to perform the requirements of the contract. The Parole Evidence Rule focuses on the existence of unreliable evidence for instance management, an oral agreement and in some cases a written agreement that has not been included in the contract (Epstein, Archer and Davis 2014). Therefore, it is worth noting that in order to provide appropriate support to the intention of the parties to contract, the Parole Evidence Rule has been applied by the Courts. Applying the Parole Evidence Rule, the Court is at the authority to reach at a final decision in relation to the duties and rights of the parties to contract for the purpose of preventing imitation and deceptive claims (Veasey and Simon 2017). According to this rule, the consequences faced as a result of oral contract cannot be claimed or modified for the purpose of discharging the written contract. Various exceptions are there under the Parole Evidence Rule, that are The nature of the written agreement in the contract may be such that may not form the part of the whole contract as intended by the parties; there may be the presence of an oral agreement (Arnold?Dwyer 2017). Therefore, the condition of oral contract can only allowed by the Court on the ground that the written agreement in the contract was not intended to form the part of the whole agreement (Zeng 2015). However in such cases, one of the parties to the contract may take unfair disadvantage of the other party which was held in Van den Esschert v Chappell [1960] WAR 114. In Van den Esschert v Chappell [1960] WAR 114 it was observed that before signing the contract for sale agreement the seller guaranteed the purchaser by way of oral assurance that there were no existence of white ants in the house. Afterwards the purchaser observed that as a result of the presence of white ants in the house it destroyed all the timber. The seller was sued and the purchaser received compensation for the damages. It was held by the Court that, the oral assurance given by the seller regarding the presence of white ants formed an essential part of the contract, although it was not mentioned in the written contract. Similarly in Nemeth v Bayswater Road Pty Ltd [1988] 2 Qd R 406, it was observed that the defendant was sued by the plaintiff as the defendant assured that there were no additional charges in the contract. Later on identifying the additional charges from the written document the plaintiff sued the defendant. In the present case study it can be observed that there was a oral assurance on the part of Kalpana when she mention that the form of the dance will be traditional, classical Indian dance. A contract was signed between her and Rafia where the form of dance was not mentioned neither Kalpanas oral assurance. Therefore, the exception of party written and party oral contract can be applied here. It can be stated that the nature of contract which existed between Kalpana and Rafia was partly written and partly oral. Therefore, it can be stated that the verbal assurance on the part of Kalpana is a term of contract. The case study Van den Esschert v Chappell [1960] WAR 114. In Van den Esschert v Chappell [1960] WAR 114 can be referred in this regard where it was observed that the seller (defendant) has to compensate for the damages for not acting in terms of the verbal assurance given by him although there was a presence of a written contract. In the present case study, it can be observed th at though the form of the dance was not mentioned in the contract is formed an important part of it by way of oral assurance from Kalpanas part. The condition in a contract is regarded as the fundamental term whereas a warranty is considered to be a statement in the contract which provides assurance to the parties about the factual matters present in the contract which was held in Poussard v Spiers (1875) L.R. 1 QBD 410andBettini v Gye (1875) L.R. 1 QBD 183. In this regard, the subject-matter of collateral contract can be discussed. Collateral contract is considered as a separate contract which exists in relation to the main contract. In case of collateral contract there is a possibility on the part of the parties to involve in an oral or verbal agreement which exists along with the written contract. In Heilbut,SymonsandCo.v Buckleton[1913] AC 30, it was held that during the formation of a contract each and every agreement made by the parties should be taken into consideration. Similarly in De Lassalle v Guildford(1901) 2 KB 215 it was held that a verbal agreement must be consistent with the written contract. The definition o f warranty can be emphasized in order to explain the importance of promise and assurance clearly. A warranty can be defined as a oral assurance given by the seller to the buyer prior to the contract in order to assure the buyer regarding the nature, quality and specific performance of the product (Dunt 2015). However, in certain cases, it can be observed that the warranties provided by the buyer to the seller fail to perform according to the assurance provided during the time of signing the contract. Therefore, warranty can be defined as the assurance or promise on the part of the buyer to the seller. In a recent case Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Carlyle [2013] CSIH 75, it was observed that promises, oral assurances and collateral warranties can be treated as important terms of a written contract. In this case it was observed that there was an existence of collateral warranty on the part of the employee for the purpose of providing oral assurance. It was held by the Court that colla teral warranties plays significant role in a written contract which is often associated with verbal promise and assurance. In case of breach of such collateral warranty, the defendant shall be held liable. Therefore, it is important to note the verbal assurances or promises create an obligation on the part of the parties to complete the terms of the contract. The Court in this regard, investigated the fact that whether a telephonic conversation on the part of the defendant can actually be considered as a collateral warranty. The Court at this point of time expressed its doubt regarding the fact that whether collateral warranty can be defined as the element which exists as a distinct legal entity along with the main contract or whether it can be treated as an oral assurance which may or may not be used as an essential term in the contract. Therefore, in the conclusion, it was held by the Court that warranty can be treated as a free-standing legal entity and an oral assurance on the p art of one of the parties. In British Workmans and General Assurance Co v Wilkinson(1900) 8 SLTit was held by the Court that collateral warranties must be contractual in nature management. In the present case study it can be observed that there was a oral assurance on the part of Kalpana when she assured Rafia regarding the nature of the dance form. Therefore, the cases of Poussard v Spiers (1875) L.R. 1 QBD 410andBettini v Gye (1875) L.R. 1 QBD 183 can be applied in which it was held that warranty can be treated as a statement which assures the parties regarding the matters contained in such contract. The case study of Heilbut,SymonsandCo.v Buckleton[1913] AC 30 can be referred as it was held that each and every agreement made by the parties during the course of contract must be taken into consideration. Similarly, in case of Kalpana and Rafia, there was an agreement that the dance from must be classical and traditional however; there was no mention of such dance form in the written contract. The agreement formed a collateral contract which existed along with the written contract. The case of De Lassalle v Guildford(1901) 2 KB 215 can be applied as the oral assurance given by Kalpana was consistent with the written contract. The case of Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Carlyle [2013] CSIH 75 can be referred as it was held by the Court that an oral assurance can be treated as a collateral warranty which exists in relation with the main contract. In the present case study, it is evident that there was a presence of oral assurance along with the written contract. The case of British Workmans and General Assurance Co v Wilkinson(1900) 8 SLT can be referred as it was held that collateral warranties must bear contractual characteristics. Therefore, in the present case study it can be observed that the collateral warranty which existed between Kalpana and Rafia was contractual in nature. In law of contract, for the purpose of making the contract enforceable, there must be an agreement between two or more parties. However, if one of the parties to the contract fails to act according the terms of the contract, there is a performance of breach of contract. The remedies for breach of contract under the common law can be divided into damages and liquidated claims. Damages in case of breach of contract are often considered as a substitute for performance. Liquidated damages shall be available as a remedy where there is a presence of a clause in the contract which has been agreed by the parties regarding a particular amount which shall be payable upon breach of contract. There are equitable remedies as well which includes specific performance and injunctions. Specific performance is the order granted by the Court to the parties in breach of contract for the purpose of performing the contract in a specified manner (Ostendorf 2015). Specific performance can be ordered by the Court if it comes to its knowledge that damages are not enough to provide adequate compensation to the injured party. However, injunctions are orders directed by the Court towards the breaching party restraining him from doing a particular task. In Airloom Holdings Pty Ltd v Thales Australia Ltd [2011] NSWSC 1513 it was held that there is a right to sue for damages on the part of the contractors for the purpose of claiming damages for non-performance. In Commonwealth of Australia v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd (1991) 174 CLR 64, it was held by the Court that the injured party should be placed in a position as it would have been occurred, if the terms of the contract were performed. Specific performance can be applied by the Court in case of breach of contract where monetary damages are not enough or adequate to fulfill the needs of the injured. However, it is a discretionary remedy which may not be imposed by the Court where damages will provide appropriate remedy (Veasey and Simon 2017). On the other hand, damages are losses or cost that can be incurred during the course of contract for breach of contract on the part of one of the parties. Therefore, in this regard, it is worth stating that on breach of contract, liquidated damages can be imposed. An injunction may be interlocutory, mandatory and prohibitory. An interlocutory injunction is granted by the Court for the purpose of the purpose of maintaining the status quo of the matter concerned. Mandatory injunction can be imposed by the Court for the purpose of directing something to do. The prohibitory injunction however, prohibits the party to do something. In the present scenario, it can be observed that, USC invested thousands of dollars in advertising the multicultural dance program. However, the USC had to refund those tickets to the patrons on demand. Therefore, it can be stated that there is an authority on the part of USC to sue Kalpana for breach of contract and claim damages for the losses incurred. The case of Airloom Holdings Pty Ltd v Thales Australia Ltd [2011] NSWSC 1513 can be referred where it was held that the parties can sue and claim for damages for non-performance of contract. Similarly, in the present case scenario, it can be observed that there was non-performance on the part of Kalpana and therefore there is a right on the part of USC to sue for damages. The case of Commonwealth of Australia v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd (1991) 174 CLR 64 can be referred in the present case as it is necessary to place Kalpana in that position which has been faced by USC, if she performed all the terms of the contract completely. It is evident that specific performances can be applied by the courts when monetary damages are not enough to incur the losses suffered by the injured party. Therefore, in the present case study, there is a possibility that the Court may grant specific performance, if the damages does not prove to be adequate for USC. Conclusion: In the conclusion, it can be opined that the remedies of liquidated damages and specific performance are available to USC. References: Airloom Holdings Pty Ltd v Thales Australia Ltd [2011] NSWSC 1513. Bettini v Gye (1875) L.R. 1 QBD 183. British Workmans and General Assurance Co v Wilkinson(1900) 8 SLT. Commonwealth of Australia v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd (1991) 174 CLR 64. De Lassalle v Guildford(1901) 2 KB 215. Goss V Lord Nugent (1833) 5 B Ad 58 (at 64-65) 110 ER 713 (at 716). Heilbut,SymonsandCo.v Buckleton[1913] AC 30. Nemeth v Bayswater Road Pty Ltd [1988] 2 Qd R 406. Poussard v Spiers (1875) L.R. 1 QBD 410. Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Carlyle [2013] CSIH 75. Sydney V Taylor (1891) 12 LR (NSW) 252 (at 262) [2]. Van den Esschert v Chappell [1960] WAR 114. Arnold?Dwyer, F., 2017. Insurance Law Reform by Degrees: Late Payment and Insurable Interest.The Modern Law Review,80(3), pp.489-509. Dunt, J., 2015. Warranties, conditions and exclusions. InMarine Cargo Insurance, Second Edition(pp. 167-186). Informa Law from Routledge. Epstein, D.G., Archer, T. and Davis, S., 2014. Extrinsic Evidence, Parol Evidence, and the Parol Evidence Rule: a Call for Courts to Use the Reasoning of the Restatements Rather than the Rhetoric of Common Law.NML Rev.,44, p.49. Kong, E., Goh, S.C.N., Gussen, B.F., Turner, J. and Abawi, L.A., 2016. Strategies on Addressing Contract Cheating: A Case Study from an Australian.Handbook of Research on Academic Misconduct in Higher Education, p.206. Munoz, E., 2017. Teaching Comparative Contract Law through the CISG.Indon. J. Int'l Comp. L.,4, p.725. Ostendorf, P., 2015. The exclusionary rule of English law and its proper characterisation in the conflict of lawsis it a rule of evidence or contract interpretation?.Journal of Private International Law,11(1), pp.163-183. Veasey, E.N. and Simon, J.M., 2017. The Conundrum of When Delaware Contract Law Will Allow Evidence Outside the Contract's" Four Corners" in Construing an Unambiguous Contractual Provision.Business Lawyer,72(4). Zeng, R., 2015. Interactive Relationship between Property and Contract Law-Security Rights Perspective.US-China L. Rev.,12, p.1026.

Thomas More Utopia Essays - Utopian Novels, Utopia, Utopian Fiction

Thomas More: Utopia The historical Thomas More, the author of Utopia, was an extraordinarily complicated man who tied up all the threads of his life in his heroic death. The Utopia is the sort of complicated book that we should expect from so complicated a man. It is heavy with irony, but then irony was the experience of life in the Sixteenth Century. Everywhere--in church, government, society, and even scholarship--profession and practice stood separated by an abyss. The great difficulty of irony is that we cannot always be sure when the ironic writer or speaker is being serious and when he is being comical. We find that difficulty in Utopia. Edward Hall, the great chronicler of English history of More's time wrote, For undoubtedly he beside his learning had a great wit, but it was so mingled with taunting and mocking that it seemed to them that best knew him, that he thought nothing to be well spoken except he had ministered some mock in the communication. (*) In Utopia three characters converse, and reports of other conversations enter the story. Thomas More appears as himself. Raphael Hythlodaeus is the fictional traveler to exotic worlds. More's young friend of Antwerp Peter Gillis adds an occasional word. Yet the Thomas More of Utopia is a character in a fiction. He cannot be completely identified with Thomas More the writer who wrote all the lines. Raphael Hythlodaeus's name means something like Angel or messenger of Nonsense. He has traveled to the commonwealth of Utopia with Amerigo Vespucci, seemingly the first voyager to realize that the world discovered by Columbus was indeed a new world and not an appendage of India or China. Raphael has not only been to Utopia; he has journeyed to other strange places, and found almost all of them better than Europe. He is bursting with the enthusiasm of his superior experiences. However, I shall devote most of my remarks to the second book or chapter in More's work--the description of the island commonwealth somewhere in the New World. Since the Utopians live according to the law of nature, they are not Christian. Indeed they practice a form of religious toleration. Utopia provides a second life of the people above and beyond the official life of the real states of the Sixteenth Century. Its author took the radical liberty to dispense with the entire social order based on private property, as Plato had done for the philosopher elite in his Republic. More took the communism of Plato's republic or of the golden age supposed by Ovid and later adapted by the Christian fathers.[7] But he kept the fallen human nature that Augustine believed to be the curse of the Fall. He then created a literary carnival, allowed himself the freedom of speculating on the sort of commonwealth would arise from a juxtaposition of seemingly contrary ideas. No wonder that the little poem that introduces the work, supposedly done by Mr. Windbag, the son of Raphael's sister, declares, Plato's Republic now I claim To match, or beat at its own game.[8] More's work aims to take into account a true and pessimistic view of human nature, one quite different from Plato's Socratic optimism. If Utopia is truer, it is therefore better. So if we look at Utopia with More's Augustinian eye, we see a witty play on how life might develop in a state that tried to balance these two impulses--human depravity and a communist system aimed at checking the destructive individualism of corrupt human nature. It is carnival, a festival, not a plan for reform. When the carnival is over, and we come to the end of the book, reality reasserts itself with a crash. More did not see in Utopia a plan of revolutionary reform to be enacted in Christian Europe. Remember the subtitle On the best state of a Republic and of the new island Utopia, a book truly golden, not less salutary than festive. The key word is festiuus,[9] usually translated entertaining, though, in the spirit of Bakhtin, I prefer festive. It is not revolution. Reading Utopia makes us aware of how very far we will always be from its hopes. We can understand the comment of J.W. Allen, the historian of Sixteenth-Century political thought, who