Is William Golding right to think that people will return to savagery if given the opportunity?

To claim that people will return to savagery if given the opportunity, you have to believe the assertion that people are, by nature savage.  It would be assumed that it is the rules and expectations of society that stop people from allowing their naturally savage ways to surface.  I would disagree that this was William Golding's intended message with his novel, Lord of the Flies. I would argue that he is suggesting that when...

To claim that people will return to savagery if given the opportunity, you have to believe the assertion that people are, by nature savage.  It would be assumed that it is the rules and expectations of society that stop people from allowing their naturally savage ways to surface.  I would disagree that this was William Golding's intended message with his novel, Lord of the Flies. I would argue that he is suggesting that when given the opportunity to escape from the rules and expectations of civilized society, people will revert back to their natural state, whatever that may be.  This is evident in the fact that Piggy was one character that did not change at all while on the island.  When removed from civilization, he did not change because his natural state was the same as the one exhibited in civilized society.  Unfortunately for Piggy, the boys that had savage natures overtook the island and ultimately led to his demise. Using Lord of the Flies as evidence, a more accurate claim would be "if given the opportunity, savagery would overtake the civilized natures in society."

What can we learn of Daisy before the novels present, from Jordan's account?

Jordan reveals Daisy's past in Chapter 4 to Nick.  As Jordan's tells it, she first met Daisy in 1917 in Louisville, Kentucky.  A year later, Daisy meets a young soldier:

Wild rumors were circulating about her — how her mother had found her packing her bag one winter night to go to New York and say good-by to a soldier who was going overseas. She was effectually prevented, but she wasn’t on speaking terms with her family for several weeks. After that she didn’t play around with the soldiers any more, but only with a few flat-footed, short-sighted young men in town, who couldn’t get into the army at all.

We later find out that this young soldier is Gatsby, and it seems that after he left for the war, Daisy did not want to be with any other guy, so she went out with "a few flat-footed, short-sighted young men in town" who did not inspire her but who would at least show her a good time.  

A year later, Daisy is herself again, and that is when she meets and marries Tom Buchanan "with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before."  This comes after the Armistice, or the end of World War I, but Daisy has not heard from Gatsby until the day before her wedding, when she is found by Jordan, "lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress — and as drunk as a monkey. She had a bottle of Sauterne in one hand and a letter in the other."  The letter is presumably from Gatsby, perhaps telling her that he has survived the war and wants to marry her.  However, because of Daisy's position in high society, she cannot cancel her wedding, so Jordan and a maid put Daisy in the bathtub, where the letter disintegrates, and sober her up.  The next morning, she marries Tom Buchanan.  

"An Astrologer's Day": Explain in your own words the meaning of the sentence: "He was as much a stranger to the stars as were his innocent customers."

The astrologer is something of an imposter because he knows nothing about the pseudo-science of astrology. But on the other hand, he has no belief in astrology, so he doesn't think there was anything to know. The crowds who pass by him every day, and the few who actually pay to consult him for advice, are also totally ignorant of the complex and esoteric rules of the ancient practice of astrology. So the astrologer and...

The astrologer is something of an imposter because he knows nothing about the pseudo-science of astrology. But on the other hand, he has no belief in astrology, so he doesn't think there was anything to know. The crowds who pass by him every day, and the few who actually pay to consult him for advice, are also totally ignorant of the complex and esoteric rules of the ancient practice of astrology. So the astrologer and the clients are equally ignorant. Since astrology is a pseudo-science, the astrologer probably knows as much as other astrologers who really believe in what they are practicing and who spend a lot of time studying the sky and studying their charts. The astrologer in the story relies on his own wits, his own common sense, and his own cunning in extracting information from his customers in the questions they ask and in their body language, facial expressions, and other cues, rather than on the placements of stars in the heavens. He knows that most people share the same problems and the same aspirations. They are not paying him for advice so much as they are paying him for validation. They already know what they want to hear, and for him it is a matter of guessing what it is they want to hear and then telling them that what they want to happen is what is going to happen.

He had a working analysis of mankind's troubles: marriage, money, and the tangles of human ties. Long practice had sharpened his perception. Within five minutes he understood what was wrong. He charged three pies per question, never opened his mouth till the other had spoken for at least ten minutes, which provided him enough stuff for a dozen answers and advices.

This is still true today. People ask for advice when what they really want is validation of what they already believe or of what they want to happen. The astrologer is fortunate when he runs into Guru Nayak that he already knows agreat deal about him. But he gives him some advice that Guru Nayak wants tohear. He tells him that the man he is looking for is dead and that he can give up his searching and go back to his village. Naturally the astrologer's advice is persuasive because he knows so much about Guru Nayak, including his name.

"I hope at least he died as he deserved."
"Yes," said the astrologer. "He was crushed under a lorry."
The other looked gratified to hear it.

The story is titled "An Astrologer's Day" because it is a day in the life of a manwho has to live by his wits. He has a precarious existence, but he knows he has to collect a handful of small coins to take back to his wife and his little daughter, or else they will go hungry.

 
 

What is the first chapter of Field Notes from a Catastrophe about?

The first chapter of Field Notes from a Catastrophe deals with the impacts of global warming. Alaska is the main focus of the chapter as it deals with the effects of global warming on a local Inupiat tribe and the observable impacts on the environment for residents of Alaskan cities such as Fairbanks. Also covered in this chapter is early research into global warming as well as current measurements. 

The first portion of the chapter...

The first chapter of Field Notes from a Catastrophe deals with the impacts of global warming. Alaska is the main focus of the chapter as it deals with the effects of global warming on a local Inupiat tribe and the observable impacts on the environment for residents of Alaskan cities such as Fairbanks. Also covered in this chapter is early research into global warming as well as current measurements. 

The first portion of the chapter deals with the Inupiat of Shishmaref Island. The author discusses how the water levels are rising due to the warmer weather preventing protective ice from forming. Also, the traditional way of life that was formed around seal hunting has become more difficult to sustain as the thick ice used for transportation by snowmobile and dogsled have melted and become dangerous and impassable. The result of this is a $180 million plan by the United States government to relocate the tribe.

The chapter later addressed the changes seen by residents residing even in populated cities of Alaska, specifically mentioning Fairbanks. This includes a drastic increase in the number of wildfires caused by warmer, dryer weather. Further home and land destruction has also been caused due to the melting of glacial ice formations and partial thawing of permafrost. 

While pointing out the effects of global warming, the chapter also delves into the science of proving that global warming exists. First, there is a discussion of the early research into global warming and how the warning were largely ignored for decades. Then the author uses discussions with experts to discuss current measurements for global warming including the analysis of permafrost.

In chapter 5, Gatsby's dream seems to be fulfilled. What indications are there, though, that reality cannot satisfy his dream?

Right after Gatsby tells Daisy about the green light at the end of her dock, Nick notices a change in him. It is the green light that was a beacon to Gatsby for five years while he waited for this opportunity to reunite with her. Nick narrates, "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever." Nick follows this with, "His count of enchanted objects had diminished...

Right after Gatsby tells Daisy about the green light at the end of her dock, Nick notices a change in him. It is the green light that was a beacon to Gatsby for five years while he waited for this opportunity to reunite with her. Nick narrates, "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever." Nick follows this with, "His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." Gatsby is certainly happy to be with her again, but the reality can't possibly live up to the perfect aura and idea of Daisy he had built up in his own mind. These enchanted objects and ideas like the green light suddenly have lost their luster. The reality of their reunion is great but the perfect vision he had imagined was too great to match in real life. 

Later in the chapter, Nick notices a subtle indication of doubt in Gatsby. He notes, "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion." For five years, Gatsby had idealized Daisy. All of his efforts went into building himself up as well. Gatsby's planning, effort, anticipation, and idealizations were all too great for Daisy to live up to his perfected dream. This novel describes the notion that the American Dream is an illusion. This parallels the "colossal vitality" of Gatsby's illusion. 

How is commitment shown between Macbeth and his wife, in Act 1 of Macbeth?

When Lady Macbeth hears the witches' prophecy that Macbeth will be king, she immediately begins to conspire with him against Duncan. Macbeth and his wife show their commitment to each other as they agree to work together to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth advises her husband to be friendly to Duncan when he arrives, but like her, to harden his heart and "be the serpent:"

Bear welcome in your eye,

Your hand, your tongue. Look like...

When Lady Macbeth hears the witches' prophecy that Macbeth will be king, she immediately begins to conspire with him against Duncan. Macbeth and his wife show their commitment to each other as they agree to work together to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth advises her husband to be friendly to Duncan when he arrives, but like her, to harden his heart and "be the serpent:"

Bear welcome in your eye,

Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent flower,

But be the serpent under ’t.  

At the banquet that night, Lady Macbeth does her part by flattering Duncan in any way she can, which works to disarm him. Later, when Macbeth is beginning to have second thoughts about murdering Duncan, as he enjoys being in favor with the king, Lady Macbeth steels his resolve. She reminds him of his promise to kill Duncan and insists he will be coward if he backs out. She says to him that she would go so far as to dash her own baby's brains out if she had promised Macbeth to do so. She also reassures him that the murder will succeed.

Thus, from the start, we see that Macbeth and his wife are solidly in league and committed to each other in their murderous enterprise.  

According to Foucault, how might capitalism generally control bodies, including their reproduction?

In Discipline and Punish, Foucault discusses how the penal system has had the illusion of progress. It does seem that humanism influenced a more humane use for prison systems. He describes a trajectory from torture to regimented and monitored incarceration. Indeed, imprisonment is more humane than calculated torture. But Foucault argues that it is a strategic move (not necessarily a humanistic one) corresponding to increased use of similarly regimented and monitored infrastructures in other aspects of life. 

These notions of discipline and control, which Foucault frames in terms of the modern prison system, are used in all aspects of life to create for the individual only a sense of true/free individuality. In other words, those in power brainwash "individuals" by giving them certain places to do certain things. You learn in schools. Art is to be in museums. People work in factories. The military is an ordered regiment. This all seems obvious and not harmful. But Foucault is making a wider argument about power structures and how these categories and predetermined spaces and places are part of the exercise and abuse of power. He explains how this whole infrastructure of discipline literally and figuratively controls bodies. Hence, he uses the phrase "docile bodies" to describe how subjects and citizens are submissive, perhaps without even knowing it. 

To pull this off, those in power must be able to constantly observe and record the bodies they control. Companies do just that, now more than ever. They observe what people are buying, selling, smoking, drinking, reading, watching, and they record and use this information. Through analysis of this information and using careful manipulation (via advertising, media, and other forms of information), capitalists can persuade and encourage them to buy certain products. Think of online companies like Amazon and Pandora giving you "feedback" with statements like "If you liked this, you will like . . ." If such companies and governments are able to control what these bodies (people) eat, drink, sleep in, watch, read, and so on, they control nearly all aspects of their lives. Falling under that all inclusive umbrella of life and culture, entertainment and politics, are notions of relationships, gender, sexuality, and reproduction. Foucault's philosophical project is all about examining how power is used to control all of these aspects.