.... Early in the story Gene believes that his problems lie within his best friend Phineas (Finny), but later he realizes that his conflict is internal. Misplaced jealousy, fear, love and hate fight for control of Gene's actions. When the dark side of him wins for a brief moment and he pushes Finny out of a tree it ends his man against man conflict and makes Gene realize that Finny's intention has never been to sabotage him. He had only wanted to have a close and meaningful relationship with his best friend, but their relationship was forever scarred by Gene's betrayal. Gene also .....

.... The women try to fight the men in their society and are trying to find a way to escape from their grasps. They are hesitant to stand up to the men and instead they tend to hide away. Backman notes that, "The will to confront reality seems to be losing out to the need to escape"(p.184). Miss Emily is a woman who had the whole town wondering what she was doing, but did not allow anyone the pleasure of finding out. Once the men that she cared about in life deserted her, either by death or by simply leaving her, she hid out and did not allow anyone to get close to her .....

.... the lottery, people are joking and gathering like it was a party. Once the “lucky” participant has been chosen their cries of compromise are let out and this has no effect on the crowd at hand. Being one of the stoners, you are unwilling to recognize the screams of pain and the sights of blood. This sacrifice ensures the town’s economic success and their ability to feed the families. Crops are the lives of these families and if they fail there may not be enough food to feed this small town. Killing one person a year to theoretically save the lives .....

.... it seems as though each of them is trying to make the other more jealous. Honesty and Love, two words know only by the faithful, George Wilson. George certainly had his flaws, but he loved his wife dearly and couldn't live without her. "He was his wife's man and not his own." When he became aware of Tom and Myrtle's affair, he was "really sick, pale as his own pale hair and shaking all over." He locks her up in fear that she will run away with Tom forever. He stated that, "She's going to move stay there until the day after tomorrow, and then we're going to move away. .....

.... in numbers, are dominant over the middle class, which is larger in numbers. Stephen Blackpool represents the working class. He is a warm- hearted man trapped in thes run down society. He feels he deserves this mediocre lifestyle. Blackpool was originally employed under Bounderby, but is fired for standing up for his beliefs. This type of behavior was totally unacceptable during the period of time as it involved imagination and independance. Bounderby portrayed himself as a self-made man,when in fact, he had eveything handed to him with a silver spoon. His mother gave hi .....

.... so corrupt, that even a Pardoner who admits to his evil ways, can still cheat the people out of their money. The Pardoner begins his story by condemning the common sins of society such as drinking and gluttony. The irony of his criticism lies in the fact that he has been drinking himself, and that he is an admitted glutton. There are also many ironic elements of the stor itself. The rioters in his story, vow to set out and slay Death. In doing so, they promise to fight and die for each other. There are two ironies in their mission. First, Death is hardly a being that .....

.... of the laws of its religion and the punishment of these transgressions. Puritan society was one such theocracy. It based its ideals on the bible and used fear of sin to dominate the minds and lives of its people. This concept of theocratic domination is presented in the novel in several different forms. It is shown in the actions of town officials, enforcing the laws of the bible and punishing those who go against biblical law. This is shown when they punish Hester Pryne for committing the sin of adultery. Theocratic Domination is also presented by how the thoughts an .....

.... has caused her to view even her relationship with the deity about slave and master. This makes Janie the leader of her family's search. However Nanny realized this, and when she saw that Janie was old enough for love she had her married. This guaranteed that Janie would not continue a loss of identity. Even as a young girl, living in the materialistic world of her Nanny and her first husband, Logan Killicks, Janie chooses to listen to "the words of the trees and the wind" (23-24). This is the first evidence of her searching beyond her boring life. This then leads to her every .....