The Death Between The Future And The Past - 2203 Words

A struggle to the death between the future and the past (Castro). How apt do you find this definition of revolution ‘A struggle to the death between the future and the past’ a quote by Fidel Castro on the second anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, 5th of January 1961, a view similar to that of other revolutionary leads for example Napoleon Bonaparte who said ‘A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets’. Both these quotes draw on the idea of violence being at the heart of a revolution, this however is only the opinion of two people. A revolution has not one definition as every revolution is different but there are certain characteristics, which underpin many revolutions, such as bottom up (start with people from the lower classes protesting), usually violent, sudden and dramatic and something which is historically significant in its outcomes. In this essay, I am going to look in further detail at the aptness of the quote by Fidel Castro in terms of defining a revolution from the case of the Mexican Revolution, and parts of the Cuban Revolution. The Mexican revol ution began in 1910, with the overthrow of Porfirio Diaz, who had been in power for 35 years, and continued until 1920, with many changes of the presidents. Diaz advanced the Mexican infrastructure, in terms of the bringing in railway lines across the country, and also helped with commercial agriculture. Diaz gave the Supreme Court no power, elections were rigged, and he was know for brutal executions,Show MoreRelatedLiving in the Past in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Essay1367 Words   |  6 PagesArthur Miller, A play writer in the twentieth century, wrote a play entitled Death of a salesman that won him the Pulitzer Price just a year after its release. In the play Miller expresses the life of a 60 year old salesman that undergoes through lack of success in his life and sees the same thing happening ,to his two grown sons now in their mid-thirties, as the American dream faded away being replaced by capitalism in the late 1940s. The play starts of by introducing Willy Loman, the protagonistRead MoreAnalyzing Lucretius Symmetry Argument1637 Words   |  7 Pagesin death. In Epicurus’ â€Å"Letter to Menoeceus†, he argues that death is nothing to us and thus should not be feared. Epicurus’ views on death follow from his metaphysical and ethical views. He believed that the goodness or badness of something was directly correlated to its tendency to produce pleasure or pain. Death was simply the privation of the sense-experiences that we encounter every day. He also argues that death is not yet present when we are alive, and that we are not alive when death is presentRead MoreSimilarities Between Keats And Longfellow750 Words   |  3 Pagesimpending deaths, the poems however contrast on their own dispositions towards death and the future. Here, Keats expresses a fear of not having enough time to accomplish all that he believes he is capable of doing, but as he recognizes the enormity of the world and his own limitations of life, he realizes that his own mortal goals are meaningless in the long run of things. On the other hand, Longfellow speaks of a regret towards his inaction for allowing time to slip away from him in his past and isRead More`` Mezzo Cammin `` By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow And When I Have A Fear1155 Words   |  5 PagesHenry Wadsworth Longfellow and â€Å" When I have a fear† by John keats, both poems themes are about the imminence of death and their unfulfilled dreams in life. There are many similarities in the poem but they are mostly in the beginning of the poems, the conclusion on the other hand is not similar. In â€Å"Mezzo cammin’’ the main theme of the poem is the reminisce of his dreams from the past. Keats poems emphasize a theme of the waste of a physical life and his fears associated with this waste. The similaritiesRead MoreField of Autumn, by Laurie Lee839 Words   |  4 PagesThe poem, â€Å"Field of Autumn†, by Laurie Lee exposes the languorous passage of time along with the unavoidability of closure, more precisely; death, by describing a shift of seasons. In six stanzas, with four sentences each, the author also contrasts two different branches of time; past and future. Death and slowness are the main motifs of this literary work, and are efficiently portrayed through the overall assonance of the letter â€Å"o†, which helps the reader understand the tranquility of the poemRead MoreWhen I Have Fears and Mezzo Cammin Essay783 Words   |  4 Pagestheir deaths, they begin to reflect upon the history and events of their own lives. Both John Keats’ â€Å"When I have Fears† and Henry Longfellow’s â€Å"Mezzo Cammin† reflect upon the speakers’ fears and thoughts of death. However, the conclusions between these two poems end quite differently. Although both reflect upon Death’s grasp, Keats’ displays an appreciation and subtle satisfaction with the wonders of life, while Longfellow morbidly mourns his past inactions and fears what events the future may bringRead MoreAnalysis Of George Orwells Animal Farm1142 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,† said Spanish philosopher George Santayana. This brilliant message shows to be present in George Orwell’s satirical novel Animal Farm. In this book, Orwell uses farm animals to illustrate the true nature of the communist Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. There are many examples in this book and in real life that show the truth of aforementioned Santayana’s statement, for if one does not remember the past, they are only allowing it toRead More The Important Role of Water in Toni Morrison’s Beloved Essay1134 Words   |  5 Pagesdestruction in the community. The direction i t leads Beloved in, takes her from the past into the life of society while altering the notions of the future. The water creates a portal for Beloved taking her through death and life to a sense of belonging because it holds life-giving vitality as well as the ability to take life allowing her to move back and forth through worlds as the past gives possibility to the future. The water yields a home for Beloved as she finds herself lost and confused. AsRead MoreTime As A Dominant Mode1544 Words   |  7 Pagespresent, other forms of time consciousness (e.g. recollective memory, nostalgia, or guilt) focus on past as past, and future expectations focus upon the future as future (McInerney 14-15). Time-perception mainly depends upon senses, such as hearing, seeing and smelling. Change and duration through time are also essential characteristics to the experience of time-perception; while past, present and future dimensions are essential features to time-perception (McInerney 13-14). It is, however, noteworthyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Fountain 963 Words   |  4 Pagesnot accept the grim, inevitable death that faces all of humankind. In the world of The fountain, there are three planes of existence which correlate to the past, present, and future/consciousness. Darren Aronofsky intertwines these three times periods creating a nonlinear perspectiv e of time, but it is in line with the general plot of the movie. Aronofsky wants the viewer to link the time periods together where the past is the story depicted in the book, and the future can be seen as his consciousness