What Was the Great Game

The Great Game — also known as Bolshaya Igra — was an intense rivalry between the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia, beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing through 1907 wherein Britain sought to influence or control much of Central Asia to buffer the crown jewel of its empire:  British India. Tsarist Russia, meanwhile, sought to expand its territory and sphere of influence, to create one of historys largest land-based empires. The Russians would have been quite happy to wrest control of India away from Britain as well. As Britain solidified its hold on India — including what is now Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh  Ã¢â‚¬â€ Russia conquered Central Asian khanates and tribes on its southern borders. The front line between the two empires ended up running through Afghanistan, Tibet, and Persia. Origins of Conflict The British Lord Ellenborough started The Great Game on January 12, 1830, with an edict establishing a new trade route from India to Bukhara, using Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan as a buffer against Russia to prevent it from controlling any ports on the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, Russia wanted to establish a neutral zone in Afghanistan allowing for their use of crucial trade routes. This resulted in a series of unsuccessful  wars for the British to control Afghanistan, Bukhara, and Turkey. The British lost at all four wars — the First Anglo-Saxon War (1838), the First Anglo-Sikh War (1843), the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878) — resulting in Russia taking control of several Khanates including Bukhara. Although Britains attempts to conquer Afghanistan ended in humiliation, the independent nation held as a buffer between Russia and India. In Tibet, Britain established control for just two years after the Younghusband Expedition of 1903 to 1904, before being displaced by Qin China. The Chinese emperor fell just seven years later, allowing Tibet to rule itself once more. End of a Game The Great Game officially ended with the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, which divided Persia into a Russian-controlled northern zone, a nominally independent central zone, and a British-controlled southern zone. The Convention also specified a borderline between the two empires running from the eastern point of Persia to Afghanistan and declared Afghanistan an official protectorate of Britain. Relations between the two European powers continued to be strained until they allied against the Central Powers in World War I, though there still now exists hostility toward the two powerful nations — especially in the wake of Britains exit from the European Union in 2017. The term Great Game is attributed to British intelligence officer Arthur Conolly and was popularized by Rudyard Kipling in his book Kim from 1904, wherein he plays up the idea of power struggles between great nations as a game of sorts.

John Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men - 1880 Words

â€Å"Everyone always says that anything is possible, but some things in life just can’t be reached. Sometimes your dreams just can’t be achieved.† (Carl Johnson) All humans living in America have dreams. These could all easily be described as the American Dream. The American Dream can frequently change from time to time due to the time period. It can also change due to the age of the person at hand. Children grow up having these dreams, but who knows how long these dreams will last. Some elderly people develop new dreams or are still chasing to fulfill the dreams they’ve had since they were much younger. These dreams are all things that people want and desire to have. Some of these dreams are unrealistic and could never happen.†¦show more content†¦There is another point when the American Dream is found unachievable in Of Mice and Men. This is when Curley s wife tells the story of wanting to become a photography model. She was unsuccess ful in this though. This can easily be found in the book, Of Mice and Men. Stated on Page 86, â€Å" ’Nother time I met a guy, an’ he was in pitchers. Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it.† She looked closely at Lennie to see whether she was impressing him. â€Å"I never got that letter,† she said. â€Å"I always thought my ol’ lady stole it. † Receiving a letter from that man was something that was very important to Curley’s wife. She really wanted to receive that letter. She desired to become someone that was somewhat famous. She desired to have nice clothing and to have wealth. Then, this man talks to her and says that he wants to put her in movies and photographs. He says that he will write to her when he gets back to Hollywood. Though, the man didn’t ever write to Cu rley’s wife. This upset her and made her somewhat disappointed. Through this example, it shows that Curley’s wife wasn’t able to fulfill a great dream and desire of hers. It also shows that Of Mice and Men portrays the American Dream to be most certainly unachievable. The American Dream during the 1930s compared to now hasShow MoreRelatedJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1248 Words   |  5 PagesIn Steinbeck s novel Of Mice and Men, He uses imagery many times to create a realistic setting and plot. Steinbeck’s depiction of migrant workers and their daily complications during the depression are objectively precise due to his use of imagery with idioms, dreams, nature, loneliness and animal imagery. The main theme of the book transpires to be loneliness and fate. While George and Lennie, the main characters have a synergetic relationship, fate steps in and does away with their dreams, whichRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men897 Words   |  4 Pagesthat we possess. Many people feel certain emotions based on events that have taken place in their lifetime or how they were raised throughout their childhood. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, he portrays the feelings of isolation and loneliness in three different characters. George’s isolation is illustrated in Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. George expresses many hard feelings towards Lennie at the opening of this story. â€Å"‘...you’re a lot of trouble,’ said George. ‘I could get along so easy and soRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1243 Words   |  5 Pagesis what John Steinbeck achieves by portraying this through the characters in his novella Of Mice and Men. The main characters are affected by loneliness in their own different way throughout the novella. rf The loneliness is maintained by the challenges that the characters have to face, and they sustain those challenges of being inhumane towards each other. Crook, a figure in the story who experiences discrimination encounters the challenge of race, due to the book’s setting in the 1930’s duringRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1080 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"I want you to stay with me Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.† The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows the relationship between two migrant workers in the 1930s, George and Lennie, along with the other members on the new ranch that they began working on. Georgie and Lennie dreamed of following the American Dream and owning their own patch of land and the novel revolves around the dream and the obstacles that stand in their way. Lennie, a strongRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men2167 Words   |  9 Pagesjobs. In John Steinbeck’ s Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small wander through California in search of a new job that would help them make enough money to live their American dream on â€Å"the fatta the lan’†(Steinbeck 14). George and Lennie’s hard work and determination is not enough for them to live their dream. Lennie has a mental disability that slows the two friends down from living their dream; they have to run from job to job because of Lennie’s unintentional actions. Steinbeck incorporatesRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1286 Words   |  6 PagesThe realistic fiction novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck explains the journey of two migrant farm workers. Lennie and George are forced to overcome the Dust Bowl and The Great Depression around 1938. This makes jobs even harder to come by because everyone wanted one. Lennie and George were kicked out of Weed and they now work at a ranch in Soledad. At the new farm the friendship between Lennie and George becomes harder to maintain. The people on the farm are all different shapes, sizes, andRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1360 Words   |  6 Pagesfeeling, thinking and acting in everyday life. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a duo of farmers, George and Lennie, search for work wherever they can. Their dream of having a farm of their own is coming into reach, while George has to wield Lennie away from the temptation of Curley’s wife and the reality of what L ennie can do. John Steinbeck uses characterization to illustrate the nature of human existence. Steinbeck portrays George as a man who tries to help, and helps others soRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1448 Words   |  6 Pages In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck discusses the idea of loneliness and how people who work at the ranch have no family and no future in lives. He indicates that all people at the ranch are lonely, but he specifically uses a few characters to highlight their state of being lonely and more miserable than the others. He emphasizes the loneliness of ranch life during the Great Depression, and shows how people are willing to try and find friendship in order to escape from the state ofRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men1205 Words   |  5 Pagesand the time period of John Steinbeck s novella, Of Mice and Men, exemplifies the idea that people from minorities are held back from achieving their version of the ‘American Dream’. This goes to prove not everyone will overcome the overbearing tidal waves of their hardship s, which makes the American Dream nothing more than a dream to them. Crooks, the black stable hand, faces discrimination due to his skin color as this unfortunately was common in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck uses Crooks’ situationRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men968 Words   |  4 PagesSolidifying the theme of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the protagonist George expresses his significant loneliness despite a strong kinship with his friend Lennie, â€Å"’I ain’t got no people†¦ I seen the guys that go around the ranches alone. That ain’t no good’† (41). Published in 1937, amidst the horrific turmoil of the Great Depression, Steinbeck’s novella struck a sensitive chord with readers. Set in the heart of California’s Central Valley, this story follows two men, George and Lennie, as they

The American Dream and its shortcomings and failings it seemed best to compare Death of a Salesman with an American novel Essay Example For Students

The American Dream and its shortcomings and failings it seemed best to compare Death of a Salesman with an American novel Essay Dealing as it does with the American Dream and its shortcomings and failings it seemed best to compare Death of a Salesman with an American novel, which also deals with the same ideas of dreams and so in this piece I will explore the comparisons and contrasts between Millers Death of a Salesman and F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, in particular focusing on comparing Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby. It is clear that in both novels dreams and the death of dreams is a prevalent theme. We see in Willy Loman the characterisation of many of the dreams, a desire for his family to do well, as well as desire for wealth, status and the consumerist luxuries of 1920s America. Jay Gatsby shares many of these characteristic desires and the two characters also share many traits. Falsity is one of the traits they share. Willy Loman is at times in the play almost a farcical character in terms of the delusion of family and his own destructive self-delusion. This is typified when he contradicts himself, he builds up an edifice of success and when he fails to live up to this artifice he becomes angry and confused. One examples of this contrast is Chevrolet, Linda, is the greatest car ever built immediately followed by That goddam Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car. Similarly Jay Gatsby, or James Gatz, deludes those around him. He throws lavish parties and spends exorbitant amounts of money, when in reality he grew up on a farm in North Dakota. By allowing rumours of his being a bootlegger or in one case a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm II only served to distance the extravagant Jay Gatsby of West Egg from the dull James Gatz of North Dakota. The idea of dreams is probably one of the most important themes in both novels. In Death of a Salesman Willy Loman is obsessed with a desire for economic success, and in a much deeper way to leave his mark on the world, an inerasable testament to his life. Gatsby similarly desires something, the love of Daisy Buchanan, and the green light that he gazes at on the end of her dock, is deeply symbolic of this. Their ambitions however provide a point of difference. Initially it may appear that they are the same but in reality they are quite different. The vast pretence that Gatsby builds is only for one purpose, the acquisition of Daisy Buchanan and he centres his whole life round it. However for Willy, the ambitions are not as clear-cut. It may be that he wishes Biff to be proud of him and feel as if he is better than what he is I am not a dime a dozen! Im Willy Loman and you are Biff Loman. However a number of other concerns enter his mind such as advancement in his profession, the tireless quest for financial success and the desire for consumerist status, which will prove him. In fact one of the only considerations that doesnt enter into Willys mind, in direct contrast to Gatsby, is that of love. He takes Linda for granted and then cheats on her, much in the way that the aristocratic Tom Buchanan cheats on Daisy with Myrtle Wilson. Despite this one difference in their ambitions the original positions of Willy Loman and James Gatz were not dissimilar. Both came from the West and tried to make a living in the East, struggling in the daily rat race of city life. Where Willy failed however Gatsby triumphed. .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 , .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .postImageUrl , .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 , .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:hover , .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:visited , .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:active { border:0!important; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:active , .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0 .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubc8a4e7257e40f95502dada15cc893b0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: God forbid EssayThrough his relationship with Dan Cody he attained the wealth and status he needed to impress Daisy whilst Willy Loman still toiled in the lower classes. This difference may be highlighted in that Gatsby lives in West Egg but seperating this from New York is the Valley of Ashes, which in The Great Gatsby represents the social cost of the decadence of the Jazz Age. For those in positions of wealth then it seems that there is a far greater dispensability of objects, which for Willy Loman are a commodity which he struggles to afford. Indeed it is not too hard to imagine Willy Loman himself living in the Valley of Ashes, next door to the emotionally and socially unfulfilled George Wilson, struggling against the cast-offs of the social elite. Both The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman contain social criticisms of contemporary American society. The former is set entirely in the 1920s, in what Fitzgerald liked to call the Jazz Age whilst the latter is set in the 1920s only in Willys memories though this is when the defining events of the Loman life occur. Both novels question the validity of the rampant consumerism of the period. Willy is periodically financially crippled by credit payments and for Gatsby, though these luxuries are affordable to him, they prove fruitless in his quest for Daisy Buchanan when after all his years of toil she seems paralysed into inaction when asked to leave Tom. It is also worth noting that both of these characters died in symbols of this consumerism, Willy in his car and Gatsby in his pool, and despite devoting their lives to the acquisition of these luxuries both had desolate funerals. The methods used to describe the characters by the authors also serve to create an aura of decay about them and their environment. Delayed character revelations create the effect that the characters are being deconstructed. For example Gatsbys reputation precedes him. He is not even introduced as a speaker until Chapter 3 and the revelations about his early life are not made until Chapters 6 and 7. By titling the novel The Great Gatsby we are immediately presented with this mystical reputation of the man who we later find out is a fraud. Similarly Willy Loman, in the first concurrence of past and present is presented as a success I knocked em dead in Boston. This serves to characterise a a society in which impressions are everything and when the reputation is pierced the reality is shown to be quite different. Despite his criminal past we are more drawn to Gatsby for his upholding of morals and his devotion in his quest for Daisy than we ever were for the aloof host of the party and similarly though Willys treatment of Linda was reprehensible we cannot help but be touched by the realisation of Biffs love for him. In this way the imposed self-invention of society is shown to negatively affect the characters. The morality of the American society at the time is also questioned in both novels. In the 1920s the opulence which Fitzgerald shows through the parties thrown at Gatsbys mansion belie the underlying immorality of them. For Fitzgerald from the mid-west the decadence that was prevalent in the Jazz Age is an immoral thing. This immorality came about as a corruption of the idea of the American dream. This supposed ideological purity is symbolised in the novel in The Great Gatsby, through Nick and Gatsbys involvement in the Great War and in Death of a Salesman through the idealisation of the pioneering, individualistic spirit by Willy and Ben. Both authors also question the class system of the time. As we have already seen the roots of Gatsby and Loman are similar but only one achieves success. This is because Gatsby attaches himself to the aristocratic Cody and receives an inheritance from him. Willy commits himself to the life of a salesman and so is little more than a drummer boy. It is necessary to question the integrity of someone achieving wealth through swindling the aristocratic classes and another being doomed to obscurity for trying to be a self made man in a country where a man has the inalienable rightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to the pursuit of happiness