The Mexican Revolution Essay Example for Free

The Mexican Revolution Essay In the Mexican Revolution multiple ideologies were involved at once, all competing with each other. None of them was clearly associated with an image of triumph or defeat, which downplays the image of ideology associated with this process, or rather, has made a nebulous identification of them. Catholics and those clericals who were related to the church, clashed against the property of land and against the traditional oligarchy (francisized and bourgeois), often addicted to Porfirio Diaz. This process commonly describes the oligarchy as the big loser and victim of the process of modernization caused by the revolution. For instance, the current level of popularity of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the number of times that the Pope (John Paul II) visited one of the largest Catholic nation on earth. Mexico remains perhaps, today in the XXI century, as Catholic as on early twentieth century. Another ideology that starred in the revolutionary process, and possibly suffered the biggest defeat was the positivist thinking. Dominant in Mexico since the second half of the nineteenth century, it served to provide of theoretical grounds to the extensive dictatorship (more than three decades) of Porfirio Diaz, and helped to justify (with its racist determinism) the inferiority of the natives and the mestizoes, or the Mexican. In fact, Porfirio considered the people of Mexico as immature for democracy, which was another argument for his more convenient and permanent re-election. Positivism was also tied to the landowner oligarchy, but more to the urban and conservative bourgeoisie, which was a permanent aspirant to social advancement. It was common to find their exponents in the huge state apparatus loyal to Diaz, in the universities and in the army. This thought often decanted in other ideology that is liberalism, also dragged from the nineteenth century, but which takes a great strength in the new urban middle classes and in part of the bourgeoisie that was jaded of the eternal dictators regime, it is liberalism which articulates the initial criticism to the Porfiriato, being hostile to the excessive exploitation by which the Mexican countryside was being submitted. It is this ideology that accelerates, according to general opinion, the revolutionary process. It is from this speech that, after the dialogue had failed, the mass was led to rise against the tyranny of the dictator, an invocation which proved to be for the sole purpose of the use of force and rage of the people, because it didn’t empathize with the demands of the peasants (most of the Mexican population of the time) or those of the emerging urban industrial working class or of the mining class in the province (usually linked to oil). With a marked influence of American liberalism (as opposed to European positivist ideas), liberalism enables to articulate and launch the first serious calls for uprising (for example, the San Luis Plan was launched by Madero from his exile in San Antonio, Texas). In addition there was a presence of anarchist ideology and to a lesser extent of socialism, which in some way guided the illiterate peasant forces, without actually entering them (there were only sketches of these ideologies in the proposed policies and actions of the major peasant leaders, namely Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata). Anarchism and socialism, sometimes separately, and many other times combined, strongly caught on the working class of Mexico City and other industrial centers of the country, they helped enormously in the turmoil of the pre-revolutionary process of 1910, usually operating from exile (for instance, associations of anarchists in California and socialists in Mississippi) and then vaguely reflected in the agreements of the Convention of Aguascalientes, which approved the Ayala Plan, a cornerstone of the subsequent Mexican agrarian reform. And finally we can define a last ideological factor, often ignored or downplayed, always misunderstood from the classical analysis, this is the native-peasant thought that is present throughout the whole history of Mexico and is the main foundation of the current Mexican nation. Many believe that without the discontent of these masses, accumulated over centuries of exploitation and absolute subjugation, the outbreak would not have occurred with the magnitude that it had. Most of the military conflict was made up of disgruntled peasants (in the case of the rebels) or peasants enlisted by the drafts (federal army). The main slogan of the armies led by Zapata and Villa is the division of land, not by ambition, but for their attachment to it. It is the awareness that all is owed to it, the place to which they have always belonged to, that has always been in the atavistic memory of the community, and is also the land which gives the fruit, which represents the yoke of slavery, that ties to the employer, to work for others. The land represents the entire universe of native peasants; everything good and bad that can happen to them is linked to it. But if we must define the ideology of revolution, or the one that has mobilized and convinced the masses to revolt, to slaughter, to fight, and often to death (1,000,000 approximately), this is not definable, even non-existent for many. Because the Mexican peasantry faithfully and blindly followed to warlords, who were not clear how to design a speech or an organization to legitimize their demands. This is reflected in the attitude of Zapata and Villa to take and occupy Mexico City, when they have taken hold of the city they don’t know what to do, they do not locate in that place that represents the power and therefore appoint a lawyer as president, which was Gutierrez, to enact laws to carry out their demands. But the peasants followed their leaders with almost messianic devotion, without a clear ideological conscience. It can be said that there was not a revolution in Mexican politics. There was a rearrangement, a modernization, but the resulting political system merely replicated and deepened, in a more sophisticated way, the old monopoly of power that was criticized to Porfirio Diaz. The PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) ruled the country for nearly seventy years, and as its name suggests, it proclaims by itself the institutionalization of the revolutionary process. During the lengthy period of years that this party dominated, there were countless electoral manipulations for the sole purpose of retaining power. It is true that land reform was carried out, but access to the command remained restricted to many and split between a few. Peasants did not access to this apparatus of power, and they were who, basically, carried out the revolution (after their leaders Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata). The Mexican politics did not follow the expansive course usually followed after a revolutionary victory, to put it briefly; there was not even an attempt to export the revolution. In fact, Mexico remained in the relative seclusion in which it was. Society, in contrast, showed a little better this revolution. Peasants agreed, but not throughout the country, to own the land for which they fought and yearned for so long. The modernization is evident in several aspects, the country gradually loses the image of rural indigenous nation that traditionally held, and becomes one of the most modern in Latin America, not yet being clear whether this is because of the magnitude of its population, or due to a real modern vocation of Mexican society. Mexico is a society of contradictions and polarizations, where indigenous communities coexist with rich ancient traditions (perhaps prosperous) with developed urban communities, which in turn contrast with very poor and extensive slums, which often receive indigenous and mestizo peasants from uprooted and impoverished communities. But it is doubtful to believe that the Mexican society and its political expression did assimilate the revolution, or inherited a tradition of this. Mexico is a fairly conservative country in many respects, being perhaps its ultimate expression the passivity with which it accepted and took over half a century of institutional revolutionaries in power, but very early it became clear that these â€Å"revolutionaries† only reproduced the political corruption that was previous to the revolutionary period. Mexicans seemed to assume with usual indifference the electoral manipulations and political gatopardisms. The revolution seems to be more an expression of a highly curbed energy, which springs from the bowels of the earth after centuries, a release that does not mostly renew the landscape, which covers with its centenary magma, but it gives to it more vigor in the germination of an order within the apparent chaos that is the Mexican society. Mexico did not change radically its political and social order, as in other post-revolutionary societies. What actually happened is that Mexican society shocked its dust off (during the revolution) in order to fully receive the coming century, leaving behind those most unpleasant elements inherited from the colony. The Mexican Revolution was a conservative revolution, which really did not intend to renew the Mexican society, as they didn’t know clearly what they were fighting for, or more simply, there was no clarity about general goals.

Ontological Shift :: essays research papers

Ontological Shift   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Michael Heim’s essay â€Å"The Cyber Space Dialectic†, he discusses how our culture is going through an ontological shift fashioned by the Internet. Heim articulates his theory of what dialectic is and how this ontological shift is creating a new dialectic. The Internet is the main place today where people from all over the world exchange and communicate their ideas and feelings. The Internet is a new community in itself. The ontological shift into the cyberspace times will change the way we think, and the way we act; it will change our overall sense of being. These change that Heim calls an â€Å"ontological shift† has brought on questions about changing society. These are similar to the questions that Peter Drucker and Benjamin Barber brought up when they discussed about creating a new society. Will society benefit from this new society in which its central being is cyberspace? This is a serious question since we are living in the phase t hat is changing into the cyber world now. How will this change affect this new technologically inclined society?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We have all used the Internet to talk to other people, either using chat or emails. We converse with people with different backgrounds and cultures. When interacting with different types of people, it means that we are working in groups and collaborating. This is what the Internet is all about. Interacting with each other in new ways, and learning how to open yourself to other points of views and new ideas. In his essay Heim states, â€Å"Computer networks foster virtual communities that cut across geography time zones. Virtual community seems a cure-all for isolated people who complain about their isolation. Locked in metal boxes on urban freeways, a population enjoys socializing with fellow humans through computer networks†(Heim 374). As Heim explains in his essay, the Internet can bring together communities that are isolated from the rest of the world. It helps communities and different types of people communicate with each other. It creates the idea of group work through computer networks. This was also one theme in Barbers essay; Group work is what makes ideas carry through and productive. In Barber’s â€Å"Making Civil Society Real† he states, â€Å"Civic responsibility, being a partnership between government, civil society, and the private market necessarily depends on the active collaboration of political leaders, citizens and business people†(Barber 106). Our responsibility as a society is to collaborate our selves with all the groups that make this society function.

Explored by Mary Shelly’s Novel Frankenstein Essay

The morals and views explored by Shelly display those of modern days in so much as how they are portrayed, and societies reaction towards these issues. In Shelly’s novel ‘Frankenstein’, people’s reactions are very similar to those of modern society. The attributes that people have to be susceptible to in society to try to avoid being an outcast are alike those of modern day society. People are still narrow-minded and nai ve to anything that is unusual or stands out of context with society. The novel is not set in a specific era of time; this is done deliberately to create a sense of mystery. Also I believe that this displays the belief of Shellys, that the opinions that were existent to anything different in Shelly’s time would be existent for years to come as these are traits of society itself they are not exclusive to a period of time or a gender, just society as a whole. The Novel starts with letters from Sir Walton, to his sister; this gives us an insight into the emotions and ambitions of Walton. This automatically will embrace any reader to continue throughout the book, the natural curiosity of human nature will make the audience want to discover more about the subject (In this case Sir Walton). This opening has the same effect on a reader as a personal diary would. Once the reader has read the letters they feel they have a bond and an understanding of the character, this is an effective weapon used by Shelly because when the story begins the reader can comprehend the feelings of Walton and will want him to succeed but will also realise the sufferings of the crew, â€Å"This breeze, which has travelled from the region towards which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climbs. † Letter 1 Pg15 This is just one example of Walton’s ambition; any audience would find this want of success and fame commendable. If Shelly did not include these letters his actions would be view as arrogance. This entices the reader as they will try to relate to this situation and will ask themselves what actions they would take if they were in a similar situation. The reader will also acknowledge that there are no specific dates set for these letters of this novel alone. This is done for a few reasons, a practical reason is that if Shelly does not limit herself to a certain time period then she is able to create certain advances in technology that if combined with others may stretch over many time periods yet in this novel are related together. It also implies that Shelly intended this novel to appeal to readers for many years to come, not just her era. This method alone displays Shelly’s unique ability to appeal to any vast audience.

The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne - 1184 Words

The Scarlet Letter Cue Card Title: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Date the Book was Published: 1850 Plot: A young woman named Hester Prynne is found of adultery. She had an illegitimate child and now has to wear the letter A on her chest to represent adulterer. She has been sentences to three hours of scolded punishment and a lifetime of being branded. Reverend Wilson and reverend Dimmesdale question Hester about the child s father. She refuses to give up the name. Her old husband Roger Chillingworth appears and gives her some medicine to help her. She bursts out that he might be the devil in disguise and assures her that he just wants to get revenge on the baby s father. A few months later she is released from prison and is able to take care of herself and the baby from her talent as needlework. Pearl is Hester s child and knows she is different from everyone else. There are rumors going around that Pearl is a demon child and should be taken away from Hester. She persuades Wilson by saying that she can teach pearl a lesson from her shame. He grants the order of letting pearl be with he r mother. Chillingworth becomes a doctor and moves in with reverend Dimmesdale to find the cause of his health problems. Dimmesdale is getting worse and is seeing visions. He tortures himself because of his sin and whips himself. He goes to the scaffold and holds hands with Hester and Pearl. They return home and Dimmesdale does the sermon of his lifetime. Characters: The mainShow MoreRelatedThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1242 Words   |  5 PagesLYS PAUL Modern Literature Ms. Gordon The Scarlet Letter The scarlet letter is book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne who is known as one the most studied writers because of his use of allegory and symbolism. He was born on July 4, 1804 in the family of Nathaniel, his father, and Elizabeth Clark Hathorne his mother. Nathaniel added â€Å"W† to his name to distance himself from the side of the family. His father Nathaniel, was a sea captain, and died in 1808 with a yellow fever while at sea. That was aRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne960 Words   |  4 Pages3H 13 August 2014 The novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and was published in 1850 (1). It is a story about the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, set around 1650 (2). The story is written in the third person with the narrator being the author. The common thread that runs through this novel is Hawthorne’s apparent understanding of the beliefs and culture of the Puritans in America at that time. But Hawthorne is writing about events in a societyRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne919 Words   |  4 Pagessymbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†. Symbolism is when an object is used in place of a different object. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most symbolic writers in all of American history. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, the letter â€Å"A† is used to symbolize a variety of different concepts. The three major symbolistic ideas that the letter â€Å"A† represents in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† are; shame, guilt, and ability. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, the firstRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1397 Words   |  6 PagesFebruary 2016 The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 which is based on the time frame of the Puritans, a religious group who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630’s. The Puritans were in a religious period that was known for the strict social norms in which lead to the intolerance of different lifestyles. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the puritan’s strict lifestyles to relate to the universal issues among us. The time frame of the puritans resulted in Hawthorne eventually thinkingRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne999 Words   |  4 Pages Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the prodigious book entitled The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, soon finds out about the incident after it becomes clear that she is pregnant. The whole town finds out and Hester is tried and punished. Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth goes out then on a mission to get revenge by becoming a doctor and misprescribing Dimmesdale. He does this to torture DimmesdaleRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne1037 Words   |  5 Pagesthat human nature knows right from wrong, but is naturally evil and that no man is entirely â€Å"good†. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the classic novel The Scarlet Letter, believes that every man is innately good and Hawthorne shows that everyone has a natural good side by Hester’s complex character, Chillingworth’s actions and Dimmesdale’s selfless personality. At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the â€Å"bad guy†. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, butRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1517 Words   |  7 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne composes Pearl as a powerful character even though she is not the main one. Her actions not only represent what she is as a person, but what other characters are and what their actions are. Hawthorne makes Pearl the character that helps readers understand what the other characters are. She fits perfectly into every scene she is mentioned in because of the way her identity and personality is. Pearl grows throughout the book, which in the end, help the readers better understandRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne1488 Words   |  6 Pages In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Hester Prynne, is a true contemporary of the modern era, being cast into 17th century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts. The Scarlet Letter is a revolutionary novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne examining the ugliness, complexity, and strength of the human spirit and character that shares new ideas about independence and the struggles women faced in 17th century America. Throughout the novel, Hester’s refusal to remove the scarlet letterRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1319 Words   |  6 PagesPrynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are subject to this very notion in Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter. Hester simply accepted that what she had done was wrong, whereas Dimmesdale, being a man of high regard, did not want to accept the reality of what he did. Similar to Hester and Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth allows his emotions to influence his life; however, his influence came as the result of hi s anger. Throughout the book, Hawthorne documents how Dimmesdale and Hester s different ways of dealingRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1714 Words   |  7 PagesSome two hundred years following the course of events in the infamous and rigid Puritan Massachusetts Colony in the 1600s, Nathaniel Hawthorne, descendant of a Puritan magistrate, in the 19th century, published The Scarlet Letter. Wherein such work, Hawthorne offered a social critique against 17th Massachusetts through the use of complex and dynamic characters and literary Romanticism to shed light on said society’s inherent contradiction to natural order and natural law. In his conclusive statements

Analysing Personal Dream s through Activation Information...

We spend six years of our lives in sleep and many of us do not think about what occurs while asleep. Everyone has experienced more than a few dreams while asleep, that is because, whether you know it or not, everyone dreams while asleep. Based off the Activation Information Mode Model theory, dreams are random neurological firings that have no particular meaning. The reason dreams feel so real and personal is because they are based from recent memories located in the brainstem. Although dreams are meaningless, our brain tries to make connections. Through the Activation Information Mode model people are able to analysis personal dreams. Dream Theory In 1977, American psychiatrist and dream researchers, Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley,†¦show more content†¦In the start of the dream I was dreaming and woke up to write down that dream in the journal. Unfortunately, I could not remember the dream and I felt stressed and pressured to have an interesting dream. When I finally woke up my dream journal was blank. The reason I dreamt about writing in the dream journal is because three day before, my teacher assigned us to write al of our dreams down and I never could remember my dreams so I felt stressed to have at least ten dreams. In the dream I was frustrated because I couldn’t remember the dream. The dream had no meaning because dreams are just neurological firings that are synthesized by the upper brain. Another dream I had took place on November 19, 2013. During this dream Katherine Heigl was dying of cancer inside of an office cubicle. The cubicle was filled with files of papers and had a desktop computer on the desk. Inside he office someone bought Panda Express to eat. That night I went to sleep watching Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. In that episode Izzy, played by Katherine Heigl, was diagnosed with cancer. The papers were prevalent in my dreams because my bed was covered in notes and other forms of paper. Also, my favorite place to eat is Panda Express and I ate that for dinner before I went to sleep. This dream is a recollection of everything I did within the past few hours of falling asleep, which fully supports the AIM model theory. On November 20, 2013 I dreamt that I was feeding Grace, Jahnell’s baby, withShow MoreRelatedContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 PagesNo doubt such abilities reflect Michael’s early grounding in both the practice of accounting and its economic theorization, the former at Ford and the latter initially at the London School of Economics and thereafter as a lifetime endeavour. But personal though his achievements may be, they are also reflective of a wider tradition of significant involvement in the practical sphere by senior British accounting academics. For we must remember that it was Professor Edward Stamp who was one of the firstRead MoreMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 Pagesareas of management Market segmentation Market targeting and positioning Product management Brand management Pricing Channel design and management Retailing and Wholesaling Integrated Marketing Communication Advertising management Sales promotion Person al selling Public relations Understanding individual consumer behaviour Understanding industrial consumer behaviour Customer satisfaction Customer relationship management Marketing of services Rural marketing Types of marketing research Process of marketing

Essay on Victim and Crime Evulation - 1159 Words

Victim and Crime Evaluation Larry Fulse CJA /354 May 5, 2014 Joeseph Caulfield The Criminal Justice system today is our scale of judgment. It plays a major part in how we live and how we continue to live among all the dangers, evil and corruption that surrounds us. Without it there wouldn`t be the fine line of right and wrong, there wouldn`t be justice. Those that are considered victims in our criminal justice would turn and become the aggressors and the criminals if we didn`t have a Legal System, and we would live in a world of chaos. Many individuals each have a role to play in our Criminal Justice System; there are the criminal and the victims who create the unfortunate events to which justice has to be served and then there†¦show more content†¦In the United State today, there is no standard when it comes to punishment and sentencing. This area of the criminal justice system is one that is in constant flux. Sentencing practices and goals are always under scrutiny. From â€Å"getting tough on crimes† to more rehabilitative approaches, th e views and goals of sentencing are ever changing. Since time began, there was crime and with crime came the need to punish criminals. How criminals were punished and the methods behind the punishments changed throughout the times. Standards of punishment moved from banishment and fines to torture and â€Å"blood feunds.†(Siegel Senna, 2005). A more organized system of punishment came forth with the formation of Common Law which was brought over to the United State from England. With the development of a system, there was a move away from physical punishment towards methods more acceptably used yet today in the United States. â€Å"Today there is many things criminal justice system aims to do by imposing punishments and sentences goals of punishment have moved from satisfying the victims, as in early days, to move of a broad scale. There are theories on how punishment and sentencing may serve to reduce crime as a whole. General and specific deterrence, incapacitation, rehab ilitation, retribution, and reformation are just some of these goals.†(Siegal Senna, 2005). Victim input into sentencing decisions is most keeping with the objective of restitution, which places

Prozac Nation Free Essays

Prozac Nation tells the story of Elizabeth Wurtzel’s childhood, her troubled relationship with her father who left her and her mother and refused to accept his responsibilities to his family, her move to Harvard, and her mental decline leading to several stays in hospital and a suicide attempt. Finally, after trying many different psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and medications, she tries Prozac and it helps her rise above her despair. In the Afterword to Prozac Nation, written for the paperback edition in 1995, Wurtzel asks the question that will have occurred to many of her readers. We will write a custom essay sample on Prozac Nation or any similar topic only for you Order Now What on earth makes a woman in her mid-twenties, thus far of no particular outstanding accomplishment, have the audacity to write a three-hundred page volume about her own life and nothing more, as if anyone else would actually give a shit? (p. 354) She gives a long answer, the crux of which is: I wanted this book to dare to be completely self-indulgent, unhesitant, and forthright in its telling of what clinical depression feels like: I wanted so very badly to write a book that felt as bad as it feels to feel this bad, to feel depressed. I wanted to be completely true to the experience of depression—to the thing itself, and not to the mitigations of translating it. I wanted to portray myself in the midst of this mental crisis precisely as I was: difficult, demanding, impossible, unsatisfiable, self-centered, self-involved, and above all, self-indulgent. (p. 356) Wurtzel certainly succeeds in her aim to portray herself as capricious and self-preoccupied. Indeed, according to her own description, she seems so impulsive, self-preoccupied, needy in relationships, and manipulative that readers will probably wonder whether depression is indeed Wurtzel’s most basic problem. It’s very tempting to speculate that Wurtzel has just as much claim to a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder as she does to depression. Wurtzel says that her psychiatrists gave her a diagnosis of atypical depression, and DSM-IV-TR tells us that personality disorders may be more common in those with atypical depression. Of course, even if I were a psychiatrist, which I’m not, would be ridiculous to offer a diagnosis based on an autobiography. What is clear, however, is that Wurzel’s goal of telling some general truth about clinical depression is not accomplished. Reading Prozac Nation is a very different experience from reading other memoirs of depression such as Tracy Thompson’s The Beast and Martha Manning’s Undercurrents because Wurtzel manages to provoke such a mixture of conflicting feelings in her reader, while other authors of depression memoirs provoke far more consistent sympathy. By the end of the book, one feels far more sympathy for Wurtzel’s mother and her friends than one does for her. Normally, I count myself as able to identify and empathize with people who suffer from serious mental illnesses, but I have to confess that, given the way she describes herself, unless she has changed dramatically, I’d recommend her friends to run a mile rather than put up with her manipulation. Note that one gets a similar impression from Wurtzel’s second memoir, More, Now, Again, (reviewed in Metapsychology April 2002) in which she becomes addicted to Ritalin and cocaine, and spends most of her time lying and hiding her addiction from her friends, mother and publisher. In Prozac Nation, Wurtzel several times suggests that she was addicted to depression and makes clear that her self-defeating behavior was often willful. What makes it so hard to sympathize with her is that that her problem seems to be her personality, rather than some affliction she has to overcome. To be more precise, Wutzel describes herself sometimes as the agent of her predicament, and other times as the victim of it, and it’s unclear for the reader what reasons there are for these switches. She manipulates people close to her: for instance, she tells calls her therapist at all times of the day and night, and then tells her therapist that if she does not listen to her problems, her (Wurtzel’s) blood will be on her (the therapist’s) hands. Sometimes even her crying seems like a deliberate action. But at other times she feels immobile, and can’t get out of bed. Consider, for example, how she feels after her brief romance with a man called Rafe, uring which she was miserable, clingy, and insecure, and she explicitly ignored his request that he spend time away from her, since he needed to be with his family, who had their own needs. I couldn’t move after Rafe left me. Really. I was stuck to my bed like a piece of chewing gum at the bottom of somebody’s shoe, branded with the underside, adhering to someone who didn’t want me, who kept stamping on me but still I wouldn’t move away. (250) Wurtzel’s alternating acceptance a nd denial of her agency bemuses the reader, and ultimately makes Wurtzel a less credible witness to her own mental states. Far from knowing exactly how it was for Wurtzel, even though it is clear that she was desperately unhappy for most of the time, readers will be confused and exhausted by her narrative. Far from undermining the work, these features are what make Prozac Nation so distinctive, standing out among other memoirs. It is a tour de force, and a powerful evocation of Wurtzel’s experience, although it’s not so clear whether that experience is depression, borderline personality disorder, or some other mental disorder. How to cite Prozac Nation, Essay examples