Refuting the Primitive Economic Man Model in Argonauts of the Western Pacific - Literature Essay Samples

In the Argonauts of the Western Pacific, anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski refutes the notion of â€Å"Primitive Economic Man† through his early 20th century studies at the Trobriand Islands. The Trobrianders were considered primitive because of their isolation from modern society, belief in supernatural forces, and difference in skin color. â€Å"Primitive Economic Man† denotes the idea of an â€Å"imaginary, primitive man, or savage, prompted in all his actions by a rationalistic conception of self-interest, and achieving his aims directly and with the minimum of effort† (Malinowski 1984: 60). Malinowski disagrees with this characterization, and believes that man even in the most basic culture has complex social systems and traditions. He portrays the Trobrianders as self-sufficient and hard working. They employ a complex political system, earn a livelihood involving gardening, and have the socio-economic tradition of the Kula, a long voyage, which involves t rading and reciprocity. Rejecting the notion of â€Å"Primitive Economic Man,† Malinowski reveals how the Trobrianders base their life on community and kinship through politics, work, and social traditions in order to make his readers understand this unique culture. Malinowski portrays the complex political system of the Trobrianders as one that is based on kinship, rank, and communal duties. Four clans live on the Trobriand Islands and those divide into smaller sub-clans. In these sub-clans, â€Å"members claim common ancestry† in a matrilineal succession (1984: 70). The Trobrianders have obligations and duties â€Å"which establishes a very close and important relation between† specific members of the family, such as a boy and a mother’s brother (1984: 71). The relationship between the chief and his clan highlights close ties in the community. The chief or headman has a large amount of authority, and when he needs allies or men to do his work, he can rely on them. Although the chief emerges as powerful and can be looked on as self-interested, he has to use his power and wealth for the betterment of the village. He pays for feasts and arranges tribal gatherings and expeditions (1984: 64). The Trobrianders are also close and acknowledge their chief or headman while having their own interests. But they do not follow the definition of â€Å"Primitive Economic Man,† because in times of trouble, the district, tribe, or community stick together and deal with their problems together. The political system with a chief and underlings show how they value working together and supporting each other as a community. Malinowski also portrays kinship and community through their livelihood, gardening. Trobriand gardens largely consist of a variety of different foods such as yams, taro, sugar cane, wild fruits, and roots. The Trobrianders value yams that they trade with their kin and the village. They prefer to keep the yams in storehouses or display them rather than use them for nourishment, revealing that they do not indulge or commit gluttony. The size of the garden and amount of work that Trobrianders perform helps them to gain social status and recognition from their kin. They split up the work in the garden into various tasks such as trimming the plants, cultivating, building fences, and keeping the area tidy (1984: 58). â€Å"Three quarters of a man’s crops go partly as tribute to the chief, partly as his due to this sister’s (or mother’s) husband and family† (1984:61). Although it appears that the Trobrianders garden for their own self-interest and fulfillment to better their social status, Malinowski shows that they focus on their gardens in order to have a stronger connection to their village as well as nature. They actually â€Å"receive no personal benefit in the utilitarian sense from his harvest† (1984:61). They cannot be characterized by the term â€Å"Primitive Economic Man† because they perform hard work in the garden as well as exchange yams for their village all for their village and family. Through gardening, Malinowski wants his readers to understand that the Trobrianders work hard for their family, instead of fulfilling their own needs. Socially, Malinowski represents the Trobriander life as largely governed by an extremely meaningful and important exchange called the Kula, which also signifies the importance and ties between communities rather than self-interest. The Kula is a form of public trade where by Trobriand communities undergo a long circular journey governed by rules and traditions (1984:81). They spend months preparing for this voyage by readying their canoes, food and gifts for their exchange. In the clockwise direction of their circular journey, Trobrianders trade white armshells (mwali) and in the counter clockwise direction they trade red necklaces (soulava). This circular journey never stops. Every gift continually moves in one direction and will come back in a few years to be traded again. Every man who participates has to give up an item and take an item. They cannot keep an object for more than a few years, otherwise they will be deemed as rude or selfish. The Kula brings a partnership between tw o men across different islands based on rank and they maintain that relationship for life. Although Malinowski states that the Trobrianders have little knowledge of the size of the Kula or understand the big picture, he believes in the importance of constructing â€Å"the picture of the big institution, very much as the physicist constructs his theory from experimental data† (1984: 84). The Trobrianders know their motives and might seem to be fulfilling their own needs, but they form relationships that last for years. Malinowski states that a man who owns an object â€Å"is expected to share it, to distribute it, to be its trustee and dispenser† (1984: 97). The necklaces and arm shells should not be thought of as objects of innate desire, but as objects that define their bond with each other. Malinowski shares this complex socio-economic system of the Kula to highlight the Trobrianders reciprocity, sharing and community values in order to show that the Kula satisfies t heir emotional needs rather than animalistic desires. Malinowski depicts the political system, livelihood and the Kula in relation to kin and community in order to show that the Trobrianders should not be viewed as primitive. He describes their capacity to live on their own as a type of devotion to their people and their value in social interactions. They are not simple minded and do not work, trade, or interact with others only to better themselves. Malinowski wants the reader to gain a new outlook on these people and transfer this positive portrayal of them onto other unique cultures that might be seen as savage and self-interested. Malinowski set the stage for modern anthropology. Instead of making false judgments about other cultures, he interacted with the Trobrianders in their native land and saw that they were not alien creatures but different in their humanity. He values participant observation rather than armchair assumptions as a way to understand the perspectives and relationships of other cultures. Malinowski states â€Å"we cannot possibly reach the final Socratic wisdom of knowing ourself if we never leave the narrow confinement the customs, beliefs and prejudices into which every man is born† (1984:518). In short, Malinowski’s emphasis on kinship and community in the Trobriand Islands helps his readers realize the importance of maintaining a cultural relativistic mindset. Works Consulted Malinowski, Bronislaw 2103[1922]. Argonauts of the Western Pacific: an account of native and adventure in the archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. Enhanced ed. Long Grove: Waveland Press, INC.

Jim Hawkins vs. Long John Silver The Inadvertent Intersection of Success and Villainy in Treasure Island - Literature Essay Samples

Any basic plot is driven by the conflict from opposing trails to intertwined goals. There can only be one winner. Treasure Island symbolizes this with the epitome of archetypes: Long John Silver the notorious villain and Jim Hawkins the hero boy. However, the argument can be made that Silver is the cause for Jim’s effectiveness as a hero. Jim would lose his appeal if there was not as sharp a repellant as Silver. The sea-cook had his own idea of success, and his motives, means, and ambitions surface as sordid throughout his character growth in the novel. Key traits bleed into our interpretation of Silver: his manipulative treachery, his selfish secrecy, and his brutal level of determination. It is all of these traits that compound in his development to make it an aware fact that he is the villain, and Jim Hawkins is the hero. Mr. Stevenson’s work is a just depiction of two alternate sides in a typical Romantic adventure: Long John Silver’s development along his pa th to becoming a villain demonstrates that evil is rarely circumvented on the pursuit of success throughout Treasure Island. Long John Silver is in a definitively comprehensive state of others’ emotions and uses that ability to control others. This is evident from the start from his encounter with Squire Trelawney, where he sold his character as eloquently loyal, humble, and pitied simply by targeting the nobleman’s sympathetic ties. As Silver recruits the opinion of â€Å"one of the best possible shipmates† (Stevenson 36) from Jim, and the boy pants after him with the obedience of a pitiful dog, ready to chase after every piece of flattery that drops carelessly from Silver’s lips, it is becoming clear that Silver has a motive behind the catalyst of his relationships, and he is not innocent to the effect of the emotions of his peers. He is always in control of what others think of him, as he shapes his image in convenience for situations with his gift of manipulative charisma. Even after Jim disillusioned his personal judgment of the mutineer by witnessing Silver play his magic on another while eavesdropping through the apple barrel, and he responded with feelings of anger and rage, â€Å"I would have killed him through the barrel† (46), the two circle back around to a remarkably truant relationship as hostage and beholder. This documents Silver’s skill of always being able to stay where he wants to in his ever-shifting game of charades. The ultimate embodiment of Silver’s powers is when he was able to overturn the black spot, the mutineer condemnation that demanded certain death. Dick, a young boy that Silver had initially coaxed into the buccaneer way of thinking, had his shifty conscience targeted when Silver made allusions to his roots that Dick had abandoned to join the rebel cause. Silver is slyly clever enough to always turn around the standings so that he is carefree and in control, safe on the high road. The others even catch on and tell him to â€Å"belay that talk† (126). With words as the main weapon by which Silver is characterized, it is a sneaky underlain notice that he is a ceaselessly thinking man. He always knows how to expect what’s next, easily adapting no matter what the odds. It is clearly showcased that Long John Silver is a genius, and because of his comprehensive abilities, Long John could and should have succeeded as a protagonist. However, selfishness steered Long John Silver’s talents and made him evil, consequently bringing Jim up in the light of good. At the start of the voyage, Long John Silver begins to distance himself from the rest of the crew in an invisible personal hierarchy, overthrowing Smollett and channeling the loyalties of the ship’s crew to himself. Accomplishing his convenient bias, it is also noticeable that when there is danger, it is never the sea cook that is targeted, as he ensures that to either team at any moment, there is a value to him that insures his worth. For instance, Silver takes Jim as hostage under the proposal to his band that the boy is an excellent cover plan, yet sells the act to the doctor and the squire as one of memorable mercy, telling them to â€Å"make a note of [it]† (132). The man is a constant accessory to both sides, with the mere interest of self survival. This is a strong contrast from Jim’s loyalty. Jim will stick to his word no matter what the outcome, yet Silver has shady, dodgy, questionable motives tailored to himself without regards for others. This shuts h im off as a reachable character for the other characters and the readers.. His crew abhors him for his ultimate abandonment, and Jim resents him for his underhand betrayal. Readers see Silver’s fading public perception when he narrowly escapes the wrath of his dimwitted pirate band, and Jim becomes emboldened as the hero as he acknowledges his disapproval for Silver’s unethical ways. Jim’s steadfast devotion to courtesy and reliability provides the romantic figure desired by homely hearts. Long John Silver let his aptitude become tainted with self-servitude, and it led to his name of evil as a villain. Long John Silver became identified as a villain when he grew relentless and brutal inn chasing after his goal. In the developmental stages of planning his scheme for acquiring treasure, he makes it clear that he will continue with the eventual clearing of anyone that isn’t on his side. With the excuse that what’s got to be done has to be done, he proclaims, â€Å"I claim Trelawney. I’ll wring his calf’s head off his body with these hands† (48). There is no sense of conscience found at closer examination of Silver’s blood-thirsty viciousness. He adorns his past with his adventures of mutiny and daring quests, and boldly implies that he has killed many before the expedition to Skeleton Island. Throughout the novel, Jim and Silver had been on parallel races to success, but because of Long John’s narrow vision, he became strictly obsessive, and was blinded to the true terrible value of his ruthlessness. He becomes scarily willing to take h arsh and definite means, insisting upon severe clearings. Evil is an insignificant label as what matters in his world tables off onto a straight platform of pining after the treasure he has coveted for so long. Filtered through a ferocious mindset, evil intent and tack seem plausible and sane to Long John Silver. To the pirate, evil has evolved to become another aspect to the logic of success. Long John Silver had the potential of triumphing in his goal. However, his plan was sabotaged by the opposite force at work, heroism. As Silver’s basis of success was founded upon a shaky and unstable manipulative path, there was no way for him to stay close to any morals, ethics, or conscience. He eventually progressed to be a distinguishably detestable villain as success diverged into evil. This was the downfall of his intentions. The story cheered on the hero, and the readers read in earnest. Because Jim was able to come out in possession of goodwill with a fist of luck in the air, he was the hero that countered Silver’s attempts. Long John Silver’s example of how brilliance, intelligence, and ability still cannot guarantee success exemplifies that evil is a very obstructive obstacle, and to achieve success without it is truly heroic.