El Llano En Llamas A Burning Desire for Change and the Short Stories of Juan Rulfo - Literature Essay Samples

The Mexican Revolution was fought to bring about reform for the peasants in society; on the contrary, no agrarian reform occurred, and the people were left worse off than before the fighting began. Juan Rulfo wrote a collections of short stories titled The Burning Plain to paint a picture of the land once the fighting ceased. The president, Madero, had one post-revolutionary plan that included draining lake beds to get rid of salt in the soil. He would then implement a land reclamation process in which states distributed the land. This did not work because in the years that followed, no rain came and the land remained dry and not arable. People ended up worse than they had been before because of his plan and the unfortunate weather patterns of the time (Fitz). It can easily be said that â€Å"the fusion of human and environment as a metaphor for the characters’ fate or for their desired but unrealizable state† (Bell). The imagery hints at a deeper meaning; it serves as a way to depict the mood of the people as well. A reoccurring theme in Rulfo’s stories is how the desolate landscape represents the feelings of hopelessness and despair among the people. In â€Å"Luvina†, the narrator tells his friend about a town for which the short story is named. It resides on a hill, bordered on all sides by steep gray cliffs. The sun rarely shines there and â€Å"the days are as cold as the night† (Rulfo 67). Cold and darkness are typically associated with doom and sadness. No plants or crops can grow among the rocks there because it rains so little, leaving a dry and depressing landscape behind with little hope to grow anything of sustenance. One quotation that speaks to the overall atmosphere of the town is when one man, a visitor of Luvina, claims â€Å"†¦you’ll never see a blue sky. The whole horizon is colorless†¦The whole ridge bald, without a single tree, without a single green thing for your eyes to rest on; everything enveloped in the ash-cloud of lime. You†™ll see: those hills, their lights darkened as if they were dead, and Luvina at the very top, crowning it with its white houses as if it were the crown of a dead man†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rulfo 68). This paints a picture of a land that is uninhabitable. The very end of the passage, where he compares Luvina to the crown of a dead man, could be the authors way of saying that among all the dead landscape, where there are few signs of life, Luvina is the worst. At the end of the short story the narrator learns that the women of Luvina despise the government, which is why they do not ask for help. This symbolizes how post revolution, citizens have lost faith in their government and do not rely on it for anything. In another short story, â€Å"The Them Not To Kill Me!†, the reason the main character is being tried and sentenced to death is because he killed another man. He killed the other man, Don Lupe, because Don Lupe would not let the main character’s cattle graze on his land. There was a drought that killed the grass and thus animals were dying off. This shows how bad things were post-Revolution and post-agrarian reform; the situation was bad enough that men were being killed just for the chance for animals to get good land (Rulfo, 61). In â€Å"The Plain in Flames,† the narrator describes how crops no longer grow in lands where they once had. He says â€Å"It was the time of year when corn is about to be harvested, and the cornfields looked dry and bent over because of the strong winds that blow in the Plain in Flames† (Rulfo 52). This is another example of how desolate things had become. The people had once relied on these crops to live but now they no longer have that source of income. Juan Rulfo contributes to his depiction of Mexico through not only words but also photography, and the pictures certainly speak for themselves. He uses them as a lens into what life was like in a way that storytelling cannot fully explain. His artwork is simple and concise. As a Mexican citizen, he saw the unrest that was present both before and after the Revolution and thus captured the important symbols of the time period (Powell). In Figure 1, an untitled photograph, he shows a man wandering his land with his cattle. The cattle are thin and lack the muscle typically found in farm animals, signifying the starvation that plagued the land. The ground they walk over is dry and cracked; it is evident there is no food for the man, let alone for his animals too. In Figure 2, Dust to Dust, a similar theme exists. The plants growing in the photograph are thin and dry. This picture shows the lack of rainwater that followed the Revolution and the reason behind why the peasants were strugglin g so hard to survive. In Figure 3, Campesinas De Oaxaca, women are tending to their land. No plants or crops are growing there and it is relatively evident that none will. Their body language suggests that they are miserable and hopeless; their shoulders are hunched and their clothing is pulled tightly around them as they shield themselves from the camera. Their thin arms poke through their sleeves and show how malnourished they are becoming. The overarching theme of these short stories and photos is that people fought and died in the Revolution with the intention of becoming free from an oppressive government. They wanted more opportunities and a better quality life; however, the opposite occurred. The landscape portrayed in these stories and photographs is barren and miserable. There are few signs of life because plants and crops cannot grow due to the weather. The sun does not shine, rains do not fall, and the winds constantly blows. More people will die because they will starve than died fighting the war. â€Å"The plants, crops, animals and man-made structures constitute an indiscriminate confluence of human and natural elements, signs of human activity—farming, agriculture and construction—that are in turn dependent on natural resources and submitted to natural processes† (Bell). The fact that they depend so much on animals and plants to survive, and have none, shows the reason behind their lack of hope. They were suddenly at a disadvantage economically (Fitz). The desolate landscape is representative of the mood of the people following the revolution: quite simply, they have no hope left in life.

Terraforming Mars Essay - 550 Words

Terraforming Mars (Essay Sample) Content: TERRAFORMING AND VIEWS ON TERRAFORMING MARSFirst Last NameName of ClassName of professorCity and StateDateTerraforming is the process in which man transforms a hostile environment into an environment suitable for human life. Mars is a freezing planet that is unsuitable for the survival of any form of life. Terraforming Mars, therefore, means transforming its frozen, thin-aired surface into a more habitable and friendly environment. Mars is the best candidate planet for terraformation because it is earthlike. Also, scientists have discovered frozen water on its surface. There are three possibilities that can be used in Mars terraformation: Use of perfluorocarbons (PFCs), introducing bacteria and lichens that survive in Antarctica and by using nuclear power plants or diverting comets and meteors to Mars.Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) can be used to warm planet Mars because they are known to cause greenhouse effects. PFCs are man-made compounds that contain carbon and chlorine. When PFCs are excessively exposed to the environment, they cause the greenhouse effect. Scientists, who are exploring the possibility of terraforming Mars, take this as a probable initial step of Mars terraformation. They have suggested that PFCs can be synthesized from elements in Martian dirt and air and then they can be blown into the Mars atmosphere. In the Mars atmosphere, PFCs will trap the heat from the sun and raise the temperature of Mars. The carbon (IV) dioxide (CO2) that is frozen on its surface will also be released CITATION Kun101 \l 1033 (Kunzig, 2010). (CO2) released will further amplify warming the planet Mars and boost its atmospheric pressure to a point where the frozen water will melt, and liquid water will flow. The flowing water will increase atmospheric pressure making Mars a survivable place. However, at this level people will still need to use oxygen masks.James Graham, a botanist at the University of Wisconsin, suggests that human colonialists can introdu ce a succession of ecosystems on the red rocks on the Mars surface. According to him, lichens and bacteria that survive in Antarctica can be introduced first and later mosses and redwoods can be introduced CITATION Her15 \l 1033 (Herkewitz, 2015). These microorganisms can transform the soil on the Mars surface and release the carbon (IV) oxide gasses trapped in it into the atmosphere. Eventually, these gas will boost the Mars thin atmosphere hence raising its temperatures and atmospheric pressure making it habitable for a broad range of life survival.Use of nuclear power plants is another possibility that can help scientists in terraforming Mars. However, this option is likely to be extremely slow and expensive. As an alternative, some experts are suggesting diverting meteors and comets into the Mars orbit CITATION Mic10 \l 1033 (Kaku, 2010). The meteor or comet can finally land on the Mars surface, and as they decay and burn up, they will release water vapor into the Mars atmosp here. Also, the carbon (IV) dioxide gas trapped on the Mars surface will be released, and it will accelerate the rate at which Mars will warm up. Aft...