.... I term the "mythicpresent." What mainstream Americans consider to have happened longago, if it happened at all,is real and present during everyday life onreservations" (2). Farrer obviously feels that there are many misconceptions among the mainstream Americans about the Indians, inparticularly the Mescalero Apache. I feel she uses her book primarily as actual proof that in many ways the Indians' culture is the same now in thought, song, narrative, everyday life, religion, and in rituals as many generations before the present. The three major examples of life in the "mythic present" that I will primarily be discussing are the astronomical concept .....

.... his children. In this one instance Jim is risking his life to possibly find a better way for someone he loves. An act such as this is an unselfish act that could possibly be rewarded with death. Most characters wouldn't give unselfishly such as this. This is truly a charater that is trying to do good and make the best of a bad situation, not for himself but for others. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer were planning to free Niger Jim. He was owned by Tom Sawyer's aunt and uncle. Before Tom arrived to his uncle's farm Huck was already there and he stopped Tom before the Phelpses saw him. Tom hid until that night when they planned to break Jim out. But .....

.... absence of the emotion guilt? Here we have a story about two murders. Billy kills Claggart and Vere (Although indirectly, the decision is ultimately his) kills Budd. Neither of the murderers show guilt in the form of remorse. For a narrative that tries to put the reader in a moral and ethical position, isn't it ironic that the characters themselves don't exhibit what would seem most ethical? Immediately following the fatal blow to Claggart, There is no outlet of Billy's emotion; whatever emotion he may be experiencing is not accounted for. This is not the behavior one would expect from someone who had just accidentally killed someone else. On trial Billy has t .....

.... is limited to the text, and that of the reader, who looks at the world from outside it but who is also affected by his relationship to that world.3 Both the reader and the characters have the same problems observing the chaos around them. The protagonist in The Crying of Lot 49, Oedipa Mass, like Pynchon's audience, is forced to either involve herself in the deciphering of clues or not participate at all.4 Oedipa's purpose, besides executing a will, is finding meaning in a life dominated by assaults on people's perceptions through drugs, sex and television. She is forced out of her complacent housewife lifestyle of tupperware parties and Muzak into a chaot .....

.... them. Joe never reminds Pip of this fact, except when telling Pip how much he thinks of him. Mrs. Gargery, on the other hand, is constantly reminding Pip to be thankful of her "raising him by hand". At one point, Pip decides he will teach Joe to read. Although Joe has no real aspiration for this, he humors Pip and lets the boy instruct him. As mentioned before, Mrs. Gargery is a very cruel person. One would think living with her would drive even a saint to kill. Even so, Joe never says a harsh word about his wife and treats her with the utmost respect. Pip's decision to go to London has a greater impact than most readers think. Not only was Joe losing .....

.... copes with his life’s hardships. The characters in the movie and book are taken straight from Mclean’s life. From the hard working, soft centered, minister father, to the drunken, “down on his luck”, brother-in-law, Neil. The character of Paul appears the be the most true to life member of Norman’s family. The audience quickly becomes familiar with Paul and his quick-tempered, always ready for anything attitude. This is evident in the beginning of the story with Paul’s frequent phrase “...with a bet on the to make things interesting (Mclean 6).” “It was almost funny and sometimes not so funny to see a boy always wanting to bet on himself and almost sure to win .....

.... the summer, Gatsby threw lavish parties at his mansion. …a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten…(39,40) Gatsby did all of this for a woman he knew years ago. “…he half expected her [the woman he loved] to wander into one of his parties, some night.” (80) .....

.... strongest of the Geats-greater and stronger that anyone any where in this world-...”(Beowulf, lines 110-111). “Dripping with my enemies’ blood...drove five great giants into chains...hunting monsters out of the ocean, killing them one by one...”(Beowulf, lines 153-1580). Beowulf takes it upon himself to save the Danes from Grendel. In his battle with Grendel, Beowulf chooses not to use weapons; he relies on his super strength. “...the monster’s scorn...so great that he needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I...”(Beowulf, lines 167-169). During the fight, Beowulf's strength takes over and Beowulf wrestles with Grendel until he is able to ri .....