The Stigma of Mental Illness in Developing Countries

The Stigma of Mental Illness in Developing Countries The Stigma of Mental Illness in Developing Countries Seeking treatment for mental illness can be a daunting task. Even in the United States, where medical care is relatively easy to obtain, there is a stigma surrounding mental illness. In my own experience of living in a small, close-knit community, I found it nearly terrifying to talk to my primary care physician about the anxiety and depression I was experiencing. In my town, parking my car at the counseling center was like admitting that I couldnt take care of myself. The common perception in the community was that people need to suck it up and not rely on doctors or therapists to get through life. With this clear and prevalent stigma against mental illness and treatment, it took me years to finally get the help that I needed. This issue of stigma was still on my mind when I started looking for a topic for this research project. I was curious about how non-Western and developing countries viewed the issue and what was being done to help lessen the stigma of mental illness worldwide. What is Stigma? In order to take a close look at mental health stigma in cultures around the world, we first need to understand exactly what is meant by stigma. The dictionary definition of stigma is a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on ones reputation (Dictionary.com). This is a good place to start, but it does not accurately define the measurable aspects of stigma, which is necessary for researchers to be able to study it. Link et al. (2004) discuss several theoretical perspectives for stigmatization in general and the stigma of mental illness in particular. Most useful for the purposes of this paper is the framework laid out by Link and Phelen (2001) and discussed and elaborated upon by Link et al. (2004) that suggests several interrelated categories: labeling, stereotyping, separating, emotional reactions, status loss, and stigmas dependence on power structure. Labeling is a natural way that humans categorize differences, and many labels (shoe size, favorite foods) are not so cially salient. Other labels, such as sexual preference or nationality, are much more relevant. Both the selection of salient characteristics and the creation of labels for them are social achievements that need to be understood as essential components of stigma (Link et al. 2004). In the stereotyping component, the researchers suggest that the labeled differences are linked to negative assumptions about the labeled person or others with similar characteristics. The next aspect of the stigma process is separating, which is the us versus them mindset. Link et al. (2004) suggest that one place the initial conceptual framework about stigma is lacking is in the underrepresentation of emotional reactions: We believe that this underrepresentation needs to be corrected, because emotional responses are critical to understanding the behavior of both stigmatizers and people who are recipients of stigmatizing reactions. Status loss and discrimination can be overt, like refusing employment to s omeone with a mental illness, but it can also be much more insidious and pervasive. Link et al. (2004) gives the example that considerably less funding exists for schizophrenia research and facilities for schizophrenia treatment are often located in less desirable locations. The final aspect of the stigma framework is its dependence on power structures Link et al. (2004) state that this aspect is very important because without social, cultural, economic and political power the concept of stigma would be much less useful. Now that we understand at least one way in which stigma can be defined, we must next go about looking at the ways stigma is measured. Link et al.(2004) state that there is a considerable lack of study of mental illness stigma in the developing world they reviewed a large number of studied conducted worldwide, and found only a few in Asia and Africa, though the researchers did clarify that this might have been because their review was restricted to English language journals. This paper will focus on a few key studies, but it is certain that more study in this area is needed to get an in-depth look at differences between cultures and the relative stigma of mental illness. Some studies focus on the stigma of the general population towards those with mental illness, while others focus on the opinions of people who suffer from mental illness. One survey I found to be particularly interesting and useful is the World Mental Health Survey, in which subjects with mental health issues were asked about their perceived stigma (Alonso et al. 2008). For this survey, stigma was considered to be present if respondents reported both embarrassment and perceived discrimination related to illness. Among people with significant activity limitations (i.e., at least moderate difficulty with cognition, mobility, self-care, or social), the perceived stigma rate was highest in the Ukraine, with 32.1% of respondents reporting stigma. The lowest rate was 3.2% in Germany. The average rate of perceived stigma in developing countries was 22.1%, compared to 11.7% in developed countries (Alonso et al. 2008, Table 1). The researchers finding was that perceived stigma associated with mental disorders is universal, but considerably more frequent in developing countries; however, the implications of this finding were not discussed, though they suggest it may be of interest to investigate social, cultural and health service characteristics that differentiate countries in which patients feel less excluded from countries in which patients are more likely to report perceived stigma (Alonso et al. 2008:312). The researchers also found that perceived stigma is strongly associated with common mental disorders, particularly with comorbid mood and anxiety (Alonso et al. 2008:306). The implications of this survey are twofold: first, developing and developed countries have different ways of associating stigma with mental illness, although the reasons for this are not clear. Second, people with mental illness are much more likely to perceive stigma relating to illness than, for example, people with chronic physical ailments. Most interesting to me is the fact that the statis tics from Alonso et al.s (2004) study shows that developing countries have nearly double the rate of perceived stigma as developed countries. Studies of Stigma in Developing Countries Lauber and Rossler (2006) conducted a review of literature that summarizes results of research on the stigma of mental illness in developing Asian countries. They state that this research is very important because The stigma of mental illness and discrimination against mental patients are believed to be a significant obstacle to development of mental health care and to ensuring quality of life of those suffering from mental illness (Lauber and Rossler 2006: 158). They provide a clear discussion of how they defined developing and developed countries: A developing country is a country with a low-income average, a relatively undeveloped infrastructure and a poor human development index when compared to the global normDevelopment entails developing a modern infrastructure (both physical and institutional), and a move away from low value added sectors such as agriculture and natural resource extraction. Developed countries usually have economic systems based on continuous, self-sustaining economic growth (Lauber and Rossler 2006:160). This definition helps clarify some of the general differences between developing and developed countries. Lauber and Rosslers (2006) review of literature found that people in developing countries in Asia are generally afraid of those with mental illness. They also found that many studies reported respondents who felt that mental illness symptoms were a normal reaction to stress; this finding suggests that awareness of mental illness and the need for medical intervention is lacking in these cultures. However, the results of these studies are similar to the results in Western countries (Lauber and Rossler 2006). Another finding of this study was in regards to help-seeking behaviors: it is much more likely for those seeking help for mental illness to rely on family members instead of professional mental health services (Lauber and Rossler 2006). I found it interesting that the researchers suggest the differences in mental health care in developing Asian countries is due not only to a different cultural understanding of health and health care, but also the stigmatizing attitude of health car e professionals as well (Lauber and Rossler 2006). Gureje and Lasebikan (2005) studied the use of treatment services for mental illness in the Yoruba-speaking part of Nigeria through face-to-face interviews with nearly 5,000 adults. They found that fewer than 1 in 10 people with mental health disorders over the past 12 months had received any treatment whatsoever, compared with 25% in the United States (Gureje and Lasebikan 2005). They also found that respondents who did receive treatment were much more likely to be treated in the general medical sector rather than by a mental health specialist; these results are similar to those found in other developing countries as well as developed nations. Another significant finding was that people with mental illness were considerably less likely to use complimentary health providers than those with other non-mental disorders: This observation flies in the face of the common belief that traditional healers provide service for a high proportion of persons with mental disorders in developing Afr ican countries (Gureje and Lasebikan 2005:48). The authors suggest that many of the problems with mental health utilization in Nigeria result from its inadequate health service personnel and facilities, financial constraint, as well as poor knowledge of and negative attitude to mental illness (both of which are rampant in Nigeria) (Gureje and Lasebikan 2005:48). This suggests that in addition to the need for better health systems in developing countries, we also need to address the issue of stigma towards mental health treatment. Another study in 2005 attempted to look at the existing attitudes towards mental illness in the same Yoruba-speaking part of Nigeria. Gureje et al. (2005) studied over 2000 respondents and found widespread stigmatization of mental illness. The researchers found that respondents were often misinformed about the cause of mental illness with 80.8% stating that mental illness could be caused by drug or alcohol abuse, 30.2% claiming possession by evil spirits as a cause, followed by about equal responses of trauma, stress, and genetic inheritance (Gureje et al. 2005; Table 2). The researchers add that only about one-tenth of respondents believed that biological factors or brain disease could be the cause of mental illness, and 9% felt that Punishment from God was a possible cause (Gureje et al. 2005). In addition to the misunderstood causes of mental illness, the researchers found that many Nigerians have generally negative views towards people with mental illness: fewer than half of respondents believed that the mentally ill could be treated outside of hospitals, and only thought that mentally ill people could work at a regular job. The researchers found that these negative attitudes were equally spread across the socioeconomic spectrum (Gureje et al. 2005). The stigma associated with mental illness in Nigeria is evident in the responses that show most respondents were unwilling to have social interactions with someone with mental illness, including fear of having a conversation with or working with a mentally ill person (Gureje et al. 2005:437). 83% of respondents would be ashamed of people knowing that someone in their family was mentally ill, and only 3.4% responded that they could marry someone with a mental illness (Gureje et al. 2005: Table 4). These results support the fi ndings of the World Mental Health Survey that the stigma of mental illness is considerably higher in developing countries than in developed countries, but the research still does not show any distinct variables that could be identified in order to help reduce the associated stigma. Griffiths et al. (2006) performed a comparison of stigma in response to mental disorders between Australia and Japan, and found some interesting results. This was the only research I found that used similar methodologies to survey the public in two different cultures. Though both Japan and Australia are developed nations, the cross-cultural comparison is relevant to this study. Griffiths et al. (2006) found a significantly higher proportion of the Japanese respondents held stigmatizing attitudes and social distance towards mental illness. The authors give several possible reasons for this difference. First, conformity is more highly valued in Japan, so people who deviate from the norm because of mental illness would be more negatively impacted. Secondly, the treatment options in the two countries differ: in Japan, long-term institutionalization is common, while in Australia, community and rehabilitation services are emphasized. The implication is that even among developed countries, significant differences in the rates of stigma and the way it affects a society occur; therefore, any push to combat stigma needs to take into account these cultural differences. The authors suggest that this study may point to ways in which interventions programs for reducing stigma might be tailored for each country (Griffiths et al. 2006). Attempts to Reduce Stigma Associated With Mental Illness Many countries and cultures have made attempts to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Lauber and Rossler (2006) discuss the attempts in some Asian countries to rename schizophrenia in order to reduce the stigma associated with the disease; however, results show that a less pejorative label has little effect on the stigma associated with schizophrenia. Stein and Gureje (2004) suggest the approach of medicalization of suffering, or training healthcare providers to recognize the depression and anxiety that are often related to violence, chronic illness, and poverty in order for this to be successful, however, overcoming the stigma related to mental health issues is of primary importance. Lauber and Sartorius (2007) states that work towards reducing the stigma of mental illness is very important as a human rights issue: Societal or structural discrimination finds its expression in jurisdiction that restricts the civil rights of people with mental illness in, for example, v oting, parenting or serving jury duty, inequities in medical insurance coverage, discrimination in housing and employment, and the reliance on jails, prisons and homeless shelters as the way of disposing of people with mental illness (103). They discuss the importance of the normalization paradigm in which people with mental disorders are seen as similar to and not different from other people and medicalization, the idea that mental illness is a treatable medical condition rather than a personal defect, in the anti-stigma endeavors (Lauber and Sartorius 2007). Form (2000) suggests that one important aspect of reducing mental health stigma is to increase what he calls mental health literacy or knowledge about mental health disorders: he outlines several education programs that were widespread in the 80s and 90s in the United States the Depression Awareness, Recognition and Treatment Program and the National Depression Screening Day. These programs received widespread media attention, but their effects have not been studied. Form suggests that one good way to help improve mental health literacy is to target specific populations, such as high school students. However, Forms research says little about how these ideas would work in developing countries. In conclusion, a look at the research on stigma associated with mental illness shows significant differences in developing and developed countries, but the reasons for this are still unclear. I had hoped to conclude this research with a set of key differences between high-stigma and low-stigma cultures, but this information, if it exists, was not found. I believe that research on identifying causes for and reducing incidences of the stigma of mental illness is a very important topic in medical anthropology and one I believe will see continued advancement in research in the future. References Cited Alonso, J., A. Buron, R. Bruffaerts, Y. He, J. Posada-Villa, J-P. Lepine, M.C. Angermeyer, D. Levinson, G. de Girolamo, H. Tachimori, Z.N. Mneimneh, M.E. Medina-Mora, J. Ormel, K.M. Scott, O. Gureje, J.M. Haro, S. Gluzman, S. Lee, G. Vilagut, R.C. Kessler, M. Von Korff, the World Mental Health Consortium. 2008 Association of perceived stigma and mood and anxiety disorders: results from the world Mental Health Surveys. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 118:305-314. Griffiths, Kathleen M., Y Nakane, H. Christensen, K. Yoshioka, A. F. Jorm, and H. Nakane. 2006 Stigma in response to mental disorders: a comparison of Australia and Japan. BMC Psychiatry 2006, 6:21. Gureje, Oye, and V. Lasebikan 2005 Use of mental health services in a developing country: results from the Nigerian survey of mental health and well-being. Social Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidemiology 41:44-49. Gureje, Oye, V. Lasebikan, O. Ephraim-Oluwanuga, B. Olley, and L. Kola 2005 Community study of knowledge of and attitude to mental illness in Nigeria. The British Journal of Psychiatry 2005 186:436-441. Jorm, A. F. 2000 Mental Health Literacy: Public Knowledge and Beliefs About Mental Disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry 2000 177:396-401 Lauber, Christopher and N. Sartorius 2007 At Issue: Anti-stigma endeavors. International Review of Psychiatry. April 2007; 19(2):103-106. Lauber, Christopher and W. Rossler 2007 Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia. International Review of Psychiatry, April 2007; 19(2): 157-178. Link, Bruce, L. H. Yang, J. C. Phelan, and P.Y. Collins 2004 Measuring Mental Illness Stigma. Schizophrenia Bulletin 30 (3):511-541 Stein, Dan J., O. Gureje. 2004 Depression and anxiety in the developing world: is it time to medicalise the suffering? The Lancet Vol. 364. stigma. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stigma

Berkeley, California and Terre Haute, Indiana:

Water is a very important resource to all living creatures on earth. It plays a very special role in the world’s climate cycle (The World Weather Project 2010, 1997). As such, studying the water cycle and researching how to keep it sustainable and always available is very essential in every society. For instance, it is relevant to know how the behavior of water cycle in certain location in order to grow crops and plants more efficiently.Water balance is the study which deals with the water cycles. Every place has a different water balance level, and as such, it is calculated differently for every location since soil composition, climate and sources of water is different in every location. Water balance has many components including precipitation, potential and actual precipitation, soil water storage, deficit and surplus (Ritter, 2006).These values are computed to create a water budget for a certain location. This paper considers the comparison of two locations for the underst anding the difference of water budget between the two places. For the purpose of this paper, hypothetical data had been provided for the two locations. These locations are Berkeley, California and Terre Haute, Indiana.

Symbolism and Literary Techniques in George Orwells...

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegoric fairy tale type novel that uses irony, satire, and allegory to portray the true identity of media censored Communist Russia. Because of the relationship between America and Communist Russia during WWII, Animal Farm was not originally received with warmth because it was thought of as harmful propaganda. But then, during the Cold War, when US-USSR relations soured, George Orwell’s novel was finally read. George Orwell, the pseudonym of Eric Blair, conceived the basis of Animal Farm during his tenure at Eden, a prestigious English boarding school. It was here where Blair founded his belief in Socialism, a centralized government that controls all economic procedures and enterprises. Socialism is†¦show more content†¦The most blatant use of irony that occurs in Animal Farm is the manipulation of the Commandments, symbolizing the Communist Manifesto, by the pigs to cater to their own whims. An extremely good example of this type of manipulation is the Commandment â€Å"No animal may sleep in a bed.† Once the pigs start liking the comfort of beds, they have Squealer change the Commandment in the middle of the night to â€Å"No animal may sleep in a bed with sheets.†At this time, the animals notice that the Commandment has been changed, and start asking questions. Their uneasiness is quickly quelled by the manipulative Squealer, allowing the pigs to keep unquestionable control, without a doubt of uneasiness, on the farm. Another prominent example of the irony used in the book is at the final pages of the novel in the line, â€Å"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.† This single line is the most important in the book, because in the few words it is written in, it completely epitomizes the era of Communist Russia. It highlights the corrupt and unjust hypocrisy of a nation built on morals that are completely ignored and manipulated for those in power. A nother facet of Animal Farm that it is built upon is allegory. Allegory is a work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolicallyShow MoreRelatedGeorge Orwell s Animal Farm1392 Words   |  6 Pages George Orwell Never Misuses Words In what was a vastly controversial novel published in 1945, George Orwell’s Animal Farm describes the horrific brand of communism in the Soviet Union and the conscious blindness that most of the West accepted at that time. Although Orwell labeled Animal Farm as a fairy tale, this historically parallel novel branches into the genres of political satire, fable, and allegory as well. What made Animal Farm so controversial among the â€Å"British socialists† and WesternRead MoreCommentary on the Satiric Nature of George Orwells 19841926 Words   |  8 Pagespoems go about accentuating certain themes or points, whether of grand nature or of little consequence to society, is certainly achieved through a concoction of literary styles. The most enduring and effective works of literature exhibit an artful combination of literary device and aforementioned technique. Without a doubt, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four exhibits such a blend of style through characteristics of a dystopian novel and satire. Orwell lived in a time when the spread of communismRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model†

A Critical Evaluation Of A Marketing Concept Versus Marketing

In this essay I aim to compare, contrast and write a critical evaluation of a marketing concept versus marketing practice and their effects, being positive or negative, on a company or organization. As we further move on from the previous decades, we are introduced to many new marketing concepts, practices and terminologies. In more recent times the various statements made about marketing concepts and its definition was always varied. In 1985 the American Marketing Association came up with this to be the definition of marketing concepts (Ferrell and Lucas, 1987). â€Å"Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.† With most organizations now progressing with time the whole practice of marketing is evolved into in recent decades. The progress has now moved forward to marketing to classes rather than masses alone. While it is easy to imply that all firms cross their marketing strategy’s to what adapts to them the best, this analysis does not provide the evidence to come to a final conclusion that all business move through these stages and only these for marketing orientation, however I do suggest that my final research is viable. In recent study’s it is visible to see that most of the research focuses mostly on marketing practices that relate to Contemporary Marketing Practices (CMP) research program, which was first putShow MoreRelatedHanes Case Study Essays945 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Hanes case study: IMC Q1. What IMC objectives are important to Kelsey? Integrated Marketing Communications is defined as â€Å"a management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation† (Lake 2011). 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Channels of Distribution available to a Financial Service Organization Assignment

Essays on Channels of Distribution available to a Financial Service Organization Assignment ï » ¿ The Financial Service Organizations like Banks generate a lot of financial products and services which in turn are beneficial to a large number of customers. The banks in order to create enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty must focus on maintaining a strong and efficient distribution system through which the banking products and services can be effectively distributed. The two main channels of distribution available to the banks for effective distribution of goods and services are ‘personal selling’ and ‘electronic and telecommunication’ networks. Out of these the channel of distribution based on ‘personal selling’ works on a conventional note while ‘electronic and telecommunication’ on a modern note. The process of ‘personal selling’ conducted by banks is executed through the activities of banking and financial executives working within the bank. Thus, banks in order to reach to a wide range of customers must l ocate their offices in accessible regions so that the process of personal selling gets executed on a happy note. Proximity to the customers helps the banks to render convenience to customers and thus gains a loyal base of potential customers on which the bank can easily depend for profitable business. The second set of distribution channels based on modern approaches is found to go beyond the existing nature of banking operations depending on an office. Modern channels of distribution of banking services and products depend on a wider array of ‘electronic and telecommunication’ networks which can help the customers to avail such services in a lightning speed. Host of electronic and telecommunication devices, products and processes like telephones, Automated Teller Machines, Internet and Plastic Money have transformed the face of the banking industry and made it stand the test of times. (Pezzullo American Bankers Association, 1998, p. 196, 201) Challenges faced by a Bank in distributing financial products through Personal Selling The banks distribute the host of financial products through the process of Personal Selling, which is made possible through the set up of banks in the vicinity of localities. Banks and other commercial institutions in order to occupy a place for setting up of branches and thus catering to business expansion have to depend on the laws of the land. However, in later periods the government of different countries has allowed banks to set up branches in different states, which have helped them to enter newer and different localities quite easily. The realm of distributing banking products through the process of personal selling excites many competitors in the banking cycle. Thus, banks in order to enhance their market base to counter growing competition must go on expanding their branches to acquire newer areas and thereby newer customers. Personal Selling channels are also made lucrative to draw customers from competitive banks. Moreover, the growth of the urban sphere also demands the growth of banking units. Thus, banks in order to set up newer branches must first endeavor to evaluate the general features of the zone and secondly must divulge to conduct a more refined analysis of the particular site concerned where the branch would be located. The banks need to procure first hand information about the income scenario of the several household groups present in the area. Further, the banks must also endeavor to assess the number of owned and rented property in the newer zones and also the employment status of the different household groups. The above assessment helps a bank to rightly estimate the deposit potential of the different householders in the particular region. It would also help to understand the amount of loan on an approximate basis that would be demanded by the households to build residences. In addition, to the above facts the banking institutions must also take into consideration the range of activities carried out by the commercial and industrial z ones in the area and revenue generated thereof to understand the level of current deposits and loans. Specific consideration would also include the right assessment of property costs in the region to conduct a feasible analysis. The bank should also be properly visible and accessible to the people in that zone. (Pezzullo American Bankers Association, 1998. pp. 197-198). Challenges faced by a Bank in distributing financial products through Electronic and Telecommunication The effectiveness of the banking system in distributing financial products through electronic and telecommunication modes depends on various factors, which imply to be the challenges in such activities. Firstly, the bank must identify all possible banking services that can be rendered through the modern channels. Secondly, the technology in use must be reliable enough to carry the load of different activities. Thirdly, the human factor related to the distribution channels, the Customer Service Representatives must be adequately trained to impart trust and efficiency to the customers. Fourthly, the banks must set a proper feedback system to rightly acquire effective feedbacks, which can help modernize their service delivery systems. Fifthly, banks must cater to generate provisions, which would help them to address regulatory changes in such telecommunication modes. (S.C.N. Education B.V., 2001, p. 94) In addition to the stated challenges the banks need to identify the potential servi ce provider, which would render uninterrupted service in Internet communications. The banks must also focus in rightly training their staffs to cater effectively to customer queries and problems while conducting service via Internet. Further, the banks must also lend an eye to the training of customers to rightly adapt to the changing banking service systems. Customers must be made acquainted by the banks about the facilities of Internet and mobile banking so as to eliminate fear from their minds. This would henceforth increase the level of interaction with the banks. However, in the modern Internet age the banks must also focus in creating a safer Internet environment where the customers can easily function. Banks need to be alert about hacking activities, which would continually endeavor to derive passwords and other essential information of the customers. Finally, banks need to be open to understand the level of operations of potential competitors and their way of countering problems. This would help the bank to make their services more effective. (Milutinovic Patricelli, 2002. pp. 104-107). References 1. Milutinovic, V. F.Patricelli. (2002). E-business and e-challenges. IOS Press. 2. Pezzullo, M. American Bankers Association. (1998). Marketing financial services. Kogan Page Publishers. 3. SCN. Education B.V. (2001). Electronic banking:  the ultimate guide to business and technology of online banking. Birkhà ¤user.

To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist Free Essays

Within the Gothic genre, features of the Gothic protagonist include sharply contrasting character traits, some degree of tragic stature, a striking physical presence, an element of the sexual, and an association with the bestial. Stoker presents Dracula with greatly contrasting traits, from the impeccably polite and courteous host who greets Harker at the door, to a raging psychopathic monster. The aristocratic and noble nature of Dracula’s heritage gives him charisma and credibility, on first encounter he seems strange but eccentric, however this lulls Harker, and obviously his female victims, into a false sense of security: â€Å"The light and warmth of the Count’s courteous welcome seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fears. We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist? or any similar topic only for you Order Now † Stoker reveals Dracula’s true self slowly and subtly, so as to build tension, such as when Dracula touches Harker and he feels: â€Å"a horrible feeling of nausea. This imagery hints at the horror of Dracula’s true character, which is finally revealed when he encounters the Brides: â€Å"But the count! Never did I imagine such wraths of fury, even in the demons of the pit! † Stoker presents the count as being: â€Å"lapped in a storm of fury,† foreshadowing the terrible storm at Whitby when Dracula arrives on English soil. Stoker’s uses the imagery of hell to describe Dracula’s rage, writing: â€Å"his eyes were positively blazing†¦ as if the flames of hell-fire blazed in them. This imagery of a fiery furnace is similar to Milton’s description of Satan in Paradise Lost’ as â€Å"the infernal serpent,† dwelling in a â€Å"penal fire. † However despite Satan’s high status and charisma, he does not have the extreme contrast in personality, and the genteel almost awkward persona that Dracula has. Stoker presents Dracula as having tragic stature through his loneliness and sa dness that his once noble family have been destroyed. Dracula tells Harker that he longs: â€Å"to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is. But alas! † This desire demonstrates how isolated Dracula feels, as he has been left behind, an unwanted remnant of the ancient world. His immortality means he cannot relate to modernity, and the fast pace of life, and he is stuck in an endless cycle, a pseudo-purgatory for the Un-dead. Stoker presents Dracula as talking with great pride of his heritage, which he is determined to reinstate in England: â€Å"We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought†¦ for lordship. Milton also presents Satan as a tragic character, because of his doomed destiny to live forever in the fiery pits of Hell, but also that he has an overwhelming hubris that ultimately makes his downfall so much more difficult to accept: â€Å"for this infernal spirit shall never hold celestial spirits in bondage. † When Dracula is finally killed, Mina writes that: â€Å"even in that moment of final dissolution there was in the face a look of peac e. † Reflecting Dracula’s release from his eternal suffering, showing that despite Vampire’s intrinsic evil, they did not relish their life of pain and death. Another aspect of the conventional protagonist is their striking physical presence, and Stoker presents Dracula as conforming strongly to this, with his strong jaw, aquiline nose and extreme paleness. He has thick eyebrows, wild hair, a â€Å"heavy moustache† and â€Å"remarkably ruddy† lips. Almost immediately Harker notices aspects of Dracula’s character which are not quite normal, describing Dracula as â€Å"cruel-looking,† with his moustache hiding his â€Å"cruel mouth. † This underlying unease demonstrates how Dracula’s physicality reflects and warns of his internal evil. Stoker presents Dracula’s specific appearance as very typical of the genre, as in The Monk, Matthew Lewis describes Ambrosia in an almost identical way to Dracula: â€Å"He was a man of noble port and commanding presence. His stature was lofty, and his features uncommonly handsome. His nose was aquiline, his eyes large black and sparkling, and his dark brows almost joined together. His complexion was of a deep but clear brown; study and watching had entirely deprived his cheek of colour. † This similarity shows how conventional Dracula’s physical presence is, his stature reflecting his high status and aristocracy like Ambrosias. Stoker presents Dracula as having an element of the sexual, through his attacking of women, and his uncontrollable desire to overpower and control others. Harker’s interaction with the Bride’s of Dracula demonstrate the confusing relationship between pleasure and pain that the Vampire embodies: that we somehow desire what we know may or will hurt us. This connection is seen in one of Dracula’s weaknesses: that he cannot enter a house without being invited first, which could be a metaphor for his role as a sexual predator, as a woman has to somehow desire or want Dracula to feed from them in order for him to suck their blood. When Mina discovers Lucy after Dracula’s attack, Stoker describes her using post-coital imagery: â€Å"her lips were parted, and she was breathing- not softly, but in, long heavy gasps† demonstrating how Lucy possibly enjoyed her attack by the handsome stranger. In The Monk Ambrosia is undone by his carnal lust for Matilda, and then his rape of Antonia, as he is transformed from a pious monk into a sexual predator: â€Å"With every moment of the Friar’s passion became more ardent, and Antonia’s terror more intense. However Lewis presents Ambrosia as being full of self-loathing and disgust once he had â€Å"dishonoured† Antonia: â€Å"The very excess of his former eagerness to possess Antonia now contributed to inspire him with disgust. † Stoker presents no such sense of repentance from Dracula, whose uses his sexuality primarily to further his control over England. Finally, Stoker presents Dracula as associating with the bestial, through his control over animals and nature, his connection with the ‘other,’ and his animalistic consciousness. When Harker arrives at the castle, Stoker immediately connects animals with the Count through the images of wolves: â€Å"All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had some peculiar effect on them. † Dracula’s control over animals is one aspect of his foreign and unknown nature, reflecting Victorian fear of the barbarianism of the supposedly unrefined central Europeans. Dracula can transform himself into a giant bat, which appears as a menacing presence throughout the novel: â€Å"there was a sort of scratching or flapping at the window. Dracula’s strange social behaviour and physical presence demonstrates how he is not quite human, and it seems that he certainly relates to animals more than he does to other people: â€Å"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the hunter. † Ultimately it is Stoker’s portrayal of Dracula as a character completely driven by primal desires that associates him with the an imal, and any feelings he represses ultimately become apparent. This characteristic along with the others demonstrate how Dracula is primarily a conventional protagonist in his looks and character traits, his doom and his desires. How to cite To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist?, Papers

Photography And Art Essay Example For Students

Photography And Art Essay For many years photography has been used to document the most significant of events, whether they affect an entire society, like a war, or a specific persons life, such as a wedding. The reason that photography is used for such occasions instead of painting, drawing or sculpting is quite simple. It is because photography is the most remarkable of the fine arts. Other forms of art, are aesthetically pleasing and important in their own rite, but photography is so monumental because of the power that only it possesses. This is the power to depict fact. One aspect that makes photography so creditable is that it can show feeling and emotion so much more vividly and doubtlessly than a drawing can. For instance, during the Great Depression the harsh realities were recorded thanks to the initiative of the Farm Security Administration Daval, 186. At this time, Dorothea Lange documented the bitter poverty of migrant workers and their families 20th Century Photography, 1. These images, such as Migrant Mother and Cotton Picker near Firebrough, show, so clearly and almost effortlessly, the pain and despair that was occurring too frequently at this time. There is a loss of hope that is so clear and evident in these photographs from the longing in the eyes of the images shown. Such raw emotion is hard to come by in any other art form. Another reason photography is more trustworthy than other forms of art, is because the image that appears in a photograph, whether it is of a person or an event, has at one point existed or happened. This statement does not always hold true for paintings, sculptures, and drawings. It is simple and usual for an artist to conjure up an image of a person that has never existed and turn them into a work of art. For example, there has been a great deal of speculation about whether or not Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa is a portrait of a real person. Before the relatively recent technological advances, it was not possible to have a picture of a person or an incident that was fictitious. A further example that photography is perceived as more realistic than other methods of art, is that it is possible for an artist to elaborate, emphasize, erase, or even completely change an image that they are trying to capture. Once again, preceding modern advances, this was not possible for a photographer to do. Based on this, and the preceding statement, throughout history viewers have been able to trust that the images they were seeing were genuine, and therefore were able to trust the realism of photographs. Over the years, photography came to be depended on for its ability to show factual images for the reasons stated earlier. Proof of this statement, is the great demand for photographs in magazines and newspapers. The newspaper and newsmagazine depended on his a professional photo-reporters pictures, even more than on the written word. They were an international language of communication, the  one language needing no translation Daval, 190. The rise of photojournalism made the public even more believing of photography and the status of the photograph: from a document before, it now became evidence, irrefutable proof Daval, 173.