In the story "Once Upon A Time," what things does the family do to protect itself and what are the consequences?

Nadine Gordimer's short story "Once Upon A Time" reveals the tragedy behind a family's attempts to protect itself from an unknown and unrecognizable threat. In South Africa, historically, it is not unusual for people to take extraordinary steps to secure their properties and to protect themselves from criminal elements in society. In so doing, however, these people often overlook any other threats such as family discord, misunderstanding and even physical dangers. In the story, it...

Nadine Gordimer's short story "Once Upon A Time" reveals the tragedy behind a family's attempts to protect itself from an unknown and unrecognizable threat. In South Africa, historically, it is not unusual for people to take extraordinary steps to secure their properties and to protect themselves from criminal elements in society. In so doing, however, these people often overlook any other threats such as family discord, misunderstanding and even physical dangers. In the story, it is a barbed wire fence which is responsible for the tragedy, and in reality it is often guns and other weapons or self-defense mechanisms which maim and kill children in tragic family accidents. 

The family in Gordimer's short story who already have insurance, a fenced-in swimming pool and so on decide to install electronically-controlled gates as their first precaution against the threat from outside. The maid then pleads with the family to install burglar bars on the doors and windows and an alarm system. Next the wall is raised but the sight of the cat scaling the wall means the family still do not feel safe so they install razor wire: "razor-bladed coils." The little boy is so inspired by the fact that, to him, the razor wire looks just like a "thicket of thorns," and so he pretends to be the prince in "Sleeping Beauty." The consequences of the family's actions in concentrating on only one threat in its life are so severe that soon the little boy is nothing more than "a bleeding mass."  

What is the role of DNA in determining an organism's traits?

It is DNA that contains the genetic code that is used to make proteins. In turn, it is the structure of proteins that determines many of the biological functions and physical characteristics of an organism.

Genes are segments of DNA. DNA stands for deoxyribose nucleic acid. DNA is made of smaller building blocks called nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base. There are four kinds of nitrogen bases in DNA. DNA’s nitrogen bases are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The order of the nucleotides determines the gene that an individual will have.

Genes are transcribed and then translated to form proteins. Transcription and translation, the two processes of protein synthesis, are explained below.

During transcription, the two strands of DNA unwind. One of the strands serves as a template for make an mRNA strand. Each set of three nucleotides on an mRNA is called a codon. These codons will be important in the second phase of protein synthesis called translation. After the mRNA is created during transcription, it migrates to the cytoplasm via a nuclear pore. 

During translation, mRNA, ribosomes, rRNA, tRNA, and amino acids come together to make the protein strand.

Once in the cytoplasm, the mRNA and ribosomes attach. The ribosomes serve as scaffolds that match the codons on mRNA’s to the anticodons on the tRNA’s. Anticodons are sets of three nucleotides on the base of a tRNA that are complementary to mRNA codons. On the top of the tRNA are amino acids.

As the ribosome moves down the mRNA during translation, additional tRNA anticodons are matched with the complementary mRNA codons. In this way, amino acids that form a protein are arranged in the correct order. When two amino acids are adjacent to one another, a peptide bond forms. The polypeptide chain continues to grow until a stop codon is reached.

At this point, the polypeptide chain is released from the mRNA strand. The polypeptide chain then forms into a primary, secondary, tertiary, and/or quaternary structure that give the protein its specific function within the cell and organism.

In a Tale of Two Cities, what incited Sydney Carton to plan a safe exit from Paris for Lucie and others?

Sydney learned that Lucie and her daughter were to be condemned by the revolutionaries because of their association with a known aristocrat (Charles Darnay). He has pledged himself to Lucie to save her life or the life of anyone she loves. This will now include Miss Pross, Mr. Lorry, Doctor Manette, and Jerry Cruncher, as well as Charles. He has devised the scheme of drugging Charles in prison, switching places with him (since he and...

Sydney learned that Lucie and her daughter were to be condemned by the revolutionaries because of their association with a known aristocrat (Charles Darnay). He has pledged himself to Lucie to save her life or the life of anyone she loves. This will now include Miss Pross, Mr. Lorry, Doctor Manette, and Jerry Cruncher, as well as Charles. He has devised the scheme of drugging Charles in prison, switching places with him (since he and Charles look so similar), and having him carried out by John Barsad, claiming that it is Sydney overcome in the cell. These people all have letters which allow them to leave Paris and France. The plan is successful, though Miss Pross loses her hearing when she and Madame Defarge are struggling and the pistol goes off near her ear. Madame Defarge is killed, and Miss Pross and Jerry leave in a separate carriage, eventually meeting up with Charles, Lucie, and the others.

In "The Devil and Tom Walker," what does the devil plan to burn in the winter?

"The Devil and Tom Walker" is Washington Irving's tale about a greedy man who sells his soul to the devil to become wealthy. It is based on the German story of Faust. 

Tom Walker first meets the devil, or the "black woodsman," or "old scratch" in the dark swamps that were once an Indian fort near his house. The devil is described as a black man "begrimed with soot" who works among "fires and forges."...

"The Devil and Tom Walker" is Washington Irving's tale about a greedy man who sells his soul to the devil to become wealthy. It is based on the German story of Faust. 

Tom Walker first meets the devil, or the "black woodsman," or "old scratch" in the dark swamps that were once an Indian fort near his house. The devil is described as a black man "begrimed with soot" who works among "fires and forges." He has partially cut down many of the trees in the swamp and marked down the names of important men on them. Tom Walker is sitting on one that has the name of Crowninshield on it and the devil remarks,

"He's just ready for burning!" said the black man, with a growl of triumph. "You see I am likely to have a good stock of firewood for the winter."

The reader presumes that the named men have all sold their souls to "old scratch" and when they perish he burns the wood from the trees. Later in the story Tom Walker dies a fiery death after selling his soul and becoming a money lender. After his death all that is found of his riches are "cinders" and his horses have turned to skeletons.  

Why does the old farmer in The Silver Sword have a gleam of sadness in his eye?

In the book The Silver Sword by Ian Surrailier, a farmer gives refuge to the main characters after discovering them hiding on his farm. The farmer, Kurt Wolff, has a sad gleam in his eye due to the death of both of his sons during World War II. His wife tells Jan, one of the child refugees, about one of the sons, Rudolf, saying that Jan would have liked him because they were both good...

In the book The Silver Sword by Ian Surrailier, a farmer gives refuge to the main characters after discovering them hiding on his farm. The farmer, Kurt Wolff, has a sad gleam in his eye due to the death of both of his sons during World War II. His wife tells Jan, one of the child refugees, about one of the sons, Rudolf, saying that Jan would have liked him because they were both good with animals and the family dog reacted to Jan the same way he had reacted to Rudolf. In fact, when the children leave the farm, they find the dog, Ludwig, has hidden inside their provisions and stayed with them.

While the death of his sons left farmer Wolff with much sadness, learning about Rudolf had a positive effect on Jan. For most of his life, Jan had been a thief, even facing detention for stealing from American troops. At the end of The Silver Sword, it is revealed that Jan gave up his criminal ways and focused on his love of animals, often being called to help the sick and injured.

Should Candy be fired from the ranch in Of Mice and Men? He can't work as well as the other men because he lost his hand but he would have nowhere...

This is a political question and the answer depends on broader ideological concepts about the role of the employer in a society. These are exactly the ideas Steinbeck means to call into question. What is the role of the employer? Do the ranch owners have a moral obligation to Candy? Clearly, they have profited from his labor for many years. They may feel in the clear with him because they compensated him with $250 (about $2,500 in today's money) for his lost hand, but obviously that isn't enough money for him to achieve financial independence or survive many years of old age.

Candy is deeply worried. Social Security was enacted a few years before the time of the novel, but domestics and farm workers were exempted from it, so Candy can't count on a pension. The question becomes ethical: especially in the absence of a government safety net, is a long-term employer under a moral obligation to take care of an aged employee? Clearly, as others have pointed out, Candy is doing useful work for the ranch at this time, so they are keeping him on. But is it fair to get rid of him once he can't work?

Our society trends in the direction of individualism against corporate responsibility toward the worker, and the same was true in the 1930s, which is why Steinbeck is writing the novel: he wants to critique the capitalist system. Certainly, part of the power of a novel, especially a great novel, is it's ability to cause us to empathize with its characters. While it is easy to make ideological statements, a novel about social justice, be it Uncle Tom's Cabin or Of Mice and Men, puts a human face on abstract principals. Up close and personal, I would argue that Steinbeck causes us to feel Candy's pain and to feel that a person who has faithfully worked for so long and so hard, and lost a hand in the process is entitled to be kept on and not fired--and one might venture to say, even offered a retirement pension. Firing him would be exceptionally cruel, given his age and lack of a hand: one could imagine he would not be able to compete successfully for another position. 

What is the psychological bondage to her father theme in A Rose for Emily?

The theme of psychological bondage is shown in the dynamic between Miss Emily and her father. In Miss Emily's home, her father has been the patriarch who controlled the lives of his family. He sent Emily's beaux away if they did not meet his standards, and he dictated the manner in which Emily lived.

The narrators remark that they had long thought of Emily and her father as a "tableau":

Miss Emily a slender figure...

The theme of psychological bondage is shown in the dynamic between Miss Emily and her father. In Miss Emily's home, her father has been the patriarch who controlled the lives of his family. He sent Emily's beaux away if they did not meet his standards, and he dictated the manner in which Emily lived.

The narrators remark that they had long thought of Emily and her father as a "tableau":

Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door.

This portrait bespeaks of the relationship as with his horsewhip he appears to be astride her as though she were a horse--a very dominant position. Obviously, he was very authoritarian. Further, after his death, Emily could not bring herself to admit his loss; when the ladies of society came to visit after her father's death, Emily "told them that her father was not dead." For, she was so accustomed to his domination that she found life impossible without him.

We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.

Emily Grierson has had a forced dependence upon her father. Having lost her chances at marriage and sacrificed her young, tender years to the domination of her patriarch, Emily lives out a tragic life in which she tries to fill a void, but cannot retrieve the opportunities for love that she has irretrievably lost.