The Not-So-Honest Man in The Fifty-Dollar Bill :: Fifty-Dollar Bill Essays

The Not-So-Honest Man in The Fifty-Dollar Bill  Ã‚        Ã‚   The main character in Donald Hall’s "The Fifty-Dollar Bill" has spent most of his life trying to live up to his honest reputation. When he is accused of trying to bribe a person at the Judge Advocate General’s office, he tries to convince himself and everyone else that it was just an "unfortunate coincidence" (Hall 958). However, the evidence shows that it was more than just a coincidence and that his actions were intentional. The narrator goes out of his way to prove to us that he is a honest man. He contrasts himself with other lawyers who "live on intimate terms with dishonesty" (Hall 957). While he prides himself on being honest, the narrator has a deep obsession with his honesty; it seems he will do anything to live up to his reputation. In the first paragraph, he says "I call myself an honest man," not I am an honest man. By his choice of words he demonstrates a lack of confidence in his honesty. You don’t have to be truly honest, in order to call yourself honest. The narrator begins defending his actions long before we know that he did anything wrong. In the second paragraph, he claims "I had no intention of avoiding service to my country and I expected . . . to go into the office of the judge advocate general in June, 1942" (Hall 957). By telling us this early on he gets us on his side. We now are more likely to believe that he would never try to bribe his way out of being drafted. He also makes sure that we know he was in a hurry when he mailed the letter, which makes a mix-up seem more possible. By setting up his defense so early he shows that he has a real need to be defended. Once we know what he did wrong, his defense begins to look like Swiss cheese; it has a lot of holes in it. He and his wife used the $500.00, that they received as a wedding present, during the summer of 1941. They stopped using the money "When school started in the fall," probably close to the beginning of September (Hall 958). It’s hard to believe that in four months a man who had been in college and law school for six years, would actually forget about an envelope that he had used at least nine times over the previous summer—much less an envelope that had money in it.

The Positive Effects of the French Revolution

Freedom of speech and press, equality before the law, right to property and security, and the separation of Church and State. All of these things we take for granted as our fundamental rights but until the French Revolution, these concepts were rare in most nations. The Revolution helped spread ideas of democracy through inspiring fear in the hearts of monarchs running absolutist governments as well as through the birthing of documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the Napoleonic Code. These texts influenced the constitutions of many other countries as well as giving more rights and power to the middle class, which in turn took power away from the aristocracy. The events and aftermath of the French Revolution caused other countries to become more liberal and eventually become democratic countries. One way the Revolution influenced democracy is by helping the middle class to emerge and gain more power. By giving all free men rights to property and to an equal chance at an occupation, Napoleon destroyed the aristocratic system. A man could no longer make a living just from being descended from royal blood. He had to work just as hard as the next man to secure his position in life. By creating this almost capitalist economy, the French had set the bar for the other countries for economy as well as for standard of living. Eventually the rest of Europe would have to catch up with France but they could not keep the same social structure and aristocratic system while having a mercantilist economy. This also encouraged countries to abandon their social structure and give their people more rights. By conquering many of the surrounding European nations, Napoleon helped spread his democratic ideas to other countries. One of his best tools for doing this was the Napoleonic Code, a French civil code written by a commission of jurists in 1804. France had never had a set of laws, just community rules, so writing these laws was a big step towards democracy. The Code was not just instituted in France, but every European nation Napoleon conquered. Countries like Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Belgium all cite the Napoleonic Code as the basis for their laws. It stated that government jobs were to be given to the most qualified person and forbade any privileges to be given based on birth. These points took away the basis of feudalism in many of the largest European nations and created equality, without which a democracy can’t survive. The code also gives freedom of religion, which was rare in Europe. Up until the Revolution, the church had always had a large part in ruling countries but this rule put more power in the hands of the people and took away power from the clergy. France was successful in spreading democracy largely because they led by example. They gave other countries the idea that they could get what they wanted. When they were unsatisfied with their king they revolted and got who they wanted on the throne to rule instead, demonstrating one of the major principles of democracy, the right to choose their leader. When they were starving, they marched on Versailles and threatened the king and got bread delivered to them. Many countries were inspired by the success of the French Revolution and led their own revolts. When the oppressed slaves in Haiti and Santo Domingue learned of the conditions in France they led their own revolt and slaughtered their masters and families. This revolution led to the abolition of slavery in Haiti, as well as it becoming an independant republic in 1804. Similarly, after Napoleon invaded Spain in 1807, some Spanish colonies took advantage of the opportunity and revolted while Spain was distracted. Many people believed that the revolution did not lead to democracy, but only produced violence and murder. While it is true that many people were killed during the Revolution, especially the Reign of Terror, it was necessary for the revolution to succeed. Although possibly over-doing it, Robespierre had the interests of the people at heart and was dedicated to removing any and all opposition to his cause. With many anti-revolutionaries around to criticize and hinder the revolution, it might not have been successful and never have planted the seed of democracy in the hearts of Frenchmen. Edmund Burke, a member of British parliament, wrote just months after the fall of Bastille that he thinks it is better for change to happen over time than for there to be a dramatic social upheaval. The problem with that is that the countries in Europe couldn’t just wait around for a king to come down the line that wasn’t greedy and corrupt and wanted to give their people rights and freedoms. Louis XVI had piloted France to a 12,000,000 livre debt, much of it spent on personal expenses and it was only getting worse when the revolutionaries interfered. The bloodshed and violence was a wakeup call to the rest of Europe that the oppressed people would to whatever it took to gain there rights and freedoms. If they hadn’t fought back, feudalism might have been the type of government for another few centuries. In Rights of Man by Thomas Paine, he argues that each government is not hereditary and each generation should have the right to choose their government. Therefore, the French had the right to depose Louis XVI and establish a republic. Although having some flaws, the French Revolution was highly successful in influencing the growth of democracy. It was the cause of the creation of multiple documents stating that all men are equal, one of the basic principals of democracy. Those documents also gave men freedom of religion, made obtaining a position by birthright illegal and prevented secret laws from being published. These laws were not only in effect in France but in every part of Napoleon’s empire. The revolution inspired other countries to revolt with Haiti becoming the first black republic because of it. People were killed during the revolution but sacrifices had to be made in exchange for success, and you can’t argue with success.

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is a term used to describe one individual forcing another to commit a sexual act. Around the globe sexual abuse is much more common than people would like to think. In most cases, when we hear of sexual abuse we think about women or children. However, there are some instances where men are also sexual abused. For instance, there is a significant percentage of men incarcerated that experience sexual abuse at one point or another in their adult lives.Many factors play into these abuse cases such as; gang relations, sexual desires and/or the desire to control and take away the manhood of another. Women on the other hand, experience rape, in most cases, by someone they know; someone whom they would call a friend or maybe even a family member. Women by nature are physically weaker than men and some men take full advantage of this fact. Some men feel hatred toward women which fuels their desire to cause them pain. Others feel that women want to be rape.A simple gesture of invi ting them in for a drink can be misconstrued as an invitation for a sexual assault. On the contrary, children, in my opinion, are the most vulnerable. They can be misled by their parents, parents of friends, and/or relatives. They are the most vulnerable due to their age and lack of experience. Most children after experiencing sexual abuse find it hard to cope with their abuse and commit suicide. Others tend to have an extremely hard time trusting others, and use sex as a way to deal with their pain.In addition, when they have children of their own they tend to be over protective. The mental abuser is someone that beats another’s conscious mind into submission in order to control their situation. The controller is trying to discourage the other from saying what they think by giving them all kind of negativity. The abuser is making the controlled person low-self esteemed. People like to get certain things into people’s heads by either making them believe whatever it is that they want the other person to believe.The mental abuser will brainwash whomever they feel can trust them the most and will not give them any doubt. Mental abuse can cause progressive, long-term harm. All the person has to be told is that they are stupid, ugly, fat or worthless and it will go further than what it is supposed to. Physical abuse is act of another person intending to cause physical harm on another person. Physical abuse is common in relationships and child abuse. Abuse in a relationship an be he or she hitting, slapping, throwing, punching, and kicking. Any of those can be consider physical abuse. Physical abuse is very dangerous in relationships because it could lead to having someone in the hospital or worst death. Physical abuse with a child is when a parent or role model is physical hurting a little girl or boy. There is some case where parents have burn the child with an iron or a cigarette. In either situation physical abuse can cause symptom such as depressi on, emotional problems, and suicide.