The Best of ESU

2013-2014

An Anthology of
Undergraduate Essays

The Search For Excellence

Sponsored by The College of

Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Best of ESU 1

THE BEST OF EMPORIA STATE

An Anthology of Undergraduate Essays
Sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
In its thirty-eighth year, The Best of Emporia State continues to showcase the excellent work
done by some of the universitys finest undergraduates. This volume is a way of publicly recognizing the excellence produced by our students as they pursue programs and degrees in a variety of fields. Again this year, the essays submitted for judging came from over a dozen different
academic areas and were written by freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
As it has since 1977, this volume owes its existence to many. The students are, of course, the
centerpiece, but much appreciation must go to the faculty who encouraged and inspired these
essays. The judges, all volunteers, read and evaluated every submission. This year our judges
were Professors Melissa Reed of the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Teacher
Education; Marian Riedy of the School of Business; Rachelle Smith of the Department of
English, Modern Languages, and Journalism; and Terri Summey of the University Libraries and
Archives. These faculty members gave freely of themselves at one of the busiest times of the
semester and their efforts are greatly appreciated.
Kara Wolford and her student staff in the Department of English provided assistance at
every step of the way. Mel Storm, interim chair of the English Department, offered encouragement, support, and facilities. Kenzie Templeton, working under a tight schedule, designed and
produced this handsome volume. Finally, were it not for the generous support of Dean Brent
Thomas and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The Best of Emporia State would not be
possible. The dean and the college underwrite this collection each year.
Congratulations to the essayists and their mentors for giving us such a rich and varied collection of fine student writing.

William Clamurro, Jessica Madinger, Max McCoy, and Cynthia Patton

The Best of ESU Committee

The Best of ESU 2

Table of Contents
Danielle De Vore

The New Woman ................................................................................. 3

Dale Free

The Tea Party Movement ................................................................... 5

Jonathan Holsapple

The Oppression of Gola ..................................................................... 9

Marilyn Kearney

Mono no Aware in Pom Poko ......................................................... 15

Ashley Lundblom

An Exploration of Motherhood in Shakespeares

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ......................................................................... 19

Tasha Messer

Feminist Analysis: A History of Patriarchy

and Covert Rebellion in The Tempest ............................................... 23

Andrew Moos

The Mind of Childe Roland ............................................................. 26

Mohamed Moustafa

Searching for Alien Life .................................................................... 33

Sarah Moyer

Boots and Chaps for Cowboy Hats ................................................. 35

Ray Voiers

The Garment Industry: A Case for Change ................................... 38

Caitlin Wayman

Lethal White Overo Syndrome ........................................................ 41

Donald L. Wilcox Jr.

An Analysis of Genetic Factors That Influence

Canine Hip Dysplasia ......................................................................... 47

The Best of ESU 3

Danielle De Vore
Sophomore
HI 345A
Dr. Gregory Schneider
Spring 2013

The New Woman

The scene is a smoke-filled club in 1920s

America. Young women clad in sleeveless, short

dresses lean against bars with drinks in their
hands. Others flit from table to table, paying
attention to men of high monetary status. One
woman with bright red lips pulls up a chair to the
poker table and joins the game. Outside the club,
Victorian women look down with disdain on this
new breed of woman who squanders her money
on frivolities and flings herself at men. These
young women took advantage of the 1920s consumer culture to shape their image into an icon
that would irreversibly change the definition of
womanhood: the flapper.

In an age of consumerism, 1920s America
was restless for change. The young women who
later became known as flappers entangled themselves in this culture where the need to have the
latest and greatest possessions overcame the previous generations belief in sacrifice. With cars,
telephones, and other new forms of modern technology, it was easier to be in tune with the latest
trends. Credit also became popular in this era that
prized material wealth. This was a turning point
that would set a new standard for the modern era
in America.

In addition to new technology, the sexual
revolution created the image that people enjoy sex
for entertainment and not just for procreation,
therefore sexualizing women, much how they are
seen today. From this discovery, it might take
only a small leap of faith to conceive of sex as a
legitimate activity outside of marriage (Zeitz
45). This taboo activity became more and more
widespread among young people as convention
was flung to the wind. Also, women began to

take more and more freedoms, such as smoking

and getting drunk. Flappers were the first to take
advantage of these ideas to change and modernize
America through their example.

The Roaring Twenties symbolized the
transition to the modern era, and the culture of
the flapper became the celebrity of the times. She
bought the latest fashions, creating a need for
Americans to focus more on their appearance.
Advertisers readily catered to this consumer mindset. Presenting items as necessities rather than frivolities was a revolutionary idea at the time, convincing customers that they would gain happiness,
love, and popularity if they only had the latest
product. Whereas Victorian moralists claimed
that the use of makeup and a slavish attention to
fashion somehow masked ones inner self, the new
apostles of consumerism claimed that lipstick and
nice clothes empowered the superwoman beneath
the skin (205).

The flapper also sought out entertainment
that was more readily available due to the newly
popular movie industry. Hollywoods flapper
actresses drew teens and young adults to the movie
theaters, and they tried to imitate their favorite
stars. Young women claimed to learn from their
favorite on-screen flappers when to close their eyes
during a kiss (261). A social life was critical in
the role of the flapper. She didnt save her money,
but spent it on an evening out on the town. When
the flappers money was gone, she relied on her
male companions to treat her out in exchange for
sexual favors.

In addition, the flapper changed the way
women wanted to look. Before World War I,
women were prized for their shapely figures and

The Best of ESU 4

tried to gain weight in order to fill out their curves.
Now, with the slender, lean actresses that young
people saw in the movies, such as Colleen Moore
and Clara Bow, there was a new importance placed
on dieting. Celebrity worship became an obsession, as it still is today. the flapper was always
long, slender, graceful, and in constant motion. It
was this image of the female bodyomnipresent
and entirely newthat young women now aspired
to (192).

The flapper was an unserious party girl
who embodied the image of the New Woman.
She threw off convention and defied her parents
Victorian morals. She went to clubs, dressed
scandalously, wore heavy makeup, and allowed
the boys to take privileges previously reserved for
marriage. Many flappers moved to cities in order
to work to support their lifestyle. When young
women moved to the city alone, they were able to
elude the scrutiny of their parents and neighbors
(31). She stayed out all night without a chaperone
and often came home drunk. Instead of courting in her parents home, the flapper often dated
a different man every week, frequenting amusement parks, dance halls, and movie palaces. This
innovative leisure culture was meant for men and
women to enjoy together, and it ushered in a new
frankness about sex and romance (31).

The flapper came into existence in the
midst of a feminist movement led by Victorian
suffragists. In Flapper, Zeitz makes the argument
that flappers were not feminists because they were
uninterested in anything political. Flappers were
sorely lacking in the kind of ideological rigor and
political commitment that their own generation
of activists had exhibited on such a grand scale
(112).

First-wave feminists argued that flappers
were too dependent on men and focused more on
pleasure than politics. The idea that the flappers
personal ideal and the feminists political ideal
could be combined was looked down upon. Disengaged from politics, more interested in shopping than picketing, drunk on the ethic of sexual

freedom and romance, the flapper struck many

feminists as misguided at best. At worst, a sellout
(107). However, Zeitz also argues that the flapper
might have pioneered a distinct brand of individualist feminism that made the personal and the
political one and the same.

In the question of whether the 1920s made
the flapper, or whether the flapper made the 1920s,
Zeitz argues both ways. In one sense, the flapper
set a new standard for modernity through her wild
nature and rule-breaking attitude. Young women
were restless for freedom and independence. Flapper pioneers such as Zelda Sayre, Scott Fitzgeralds
future wife, sparked a desire in young women to
throw off convention. This led to a widespread
surge of emerging flappers.

However, without the consumer culture of
the time using advertising and sex appeal to market products, the flapper could not have existed
in such a widespread fashion. Having the latest
products was integral to flapper culture. To coax
women into this new world of getting and spendingto convince them of the need to purchase
more goods for themselves and their families
advertisers introduced startling new ideas about
body image and fashion (183). Advertisements
had a huge impact in changing societal conventions.

The consumer culture of the 1920s gave
young women the perfect opportunity to break
from convention and embody the image of the
materialistic flapper. Gone were the days of Victorian values and customs. The flapper broke down
the rules of society and created her own, striving
for independence along the way. The flapper truly
modernized the American citizen, and in every
way became the New Woman.

Works Cited
Zeitz, Joshua. Flapper. New York: Three Rivers

Press, 2006. Print.

The Best of ESU 5

Dale Free
Junior
EG 101 ZA
Jessica Madinger
Spring 2014

The Tea Party Movement

Anger against an overbearing govern-

fall of 2008 with the Wall Street bailouts that occurred during the presidency of George W. Bush,
ment spills into the streets. Shouts of Tyranny!
and the discontent grew when the federal governand Liberty! are heard in taverns. Complaints
ment loaned $50 million to GM and Chrysler at
about taxation are lodged in the halls of government. Men in tri-corner hats waving the Gadsden the end of 2008, commonly known as the auto
bailout. As the economy grew worse, the frustraflag are seen protesting. Boston 1773? No, it was
tion and anger became a full-throated roar in early
early 2009 in numerous cities across the United
States. It was the birth of the Tea Party movement. 2009 when incoming President Barack Obama
signed into law a gigantic economic stimulus packThe Tea Party is an American populist movement
centered on fiscally conservative values which has age and a mortgage relief plan.
While most people attribute the rise of the
changed the political landscape and may continue
Tea Party movement to the famous on-air rant
to do so for the foreseeable future. How did the
about the mortgage relief plan by CNBC comTea Party movement begin, how has it effected
mentator Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago
American politics and shaped the dialogue beMercantile Exchange on February 19, 2009, during
tween those with opposing viewpoints, and what
which he suggested he might organize a Chicago
does the future look like for the movement?
Tea Party later that year in which capitalists would

Merriam-Webster defines a populist as a
dump derivative securities into Lake Michigan
believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the
(Tea Party Movement), there were actually small
common people (Populist, def. 2). There have
been a number of populist movements in the U.S., protests occurring as early as January 24, 2009, in
cities as disparate as Binghamton, NY (St. Clair),
usually arising in response to difficult economic
times. During the third and fourth quarters of the Seattle (Zernike), and Denver (President Signs).
19th century, populist groups like the Greenback- Most of those protests were in response to Presiers and the Grange rose to prominence, and there dent Obamas plans to sign the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the
was an actual Populist Party formed by William
Jennings Bryan and his followers in the 1890s (Tea Stimulus but which many protesters referred
Party Movement). Just as those movements came to as the Porkulus. When Santellis passionate
to life during or in the immediate wake of periods tirade, which he later called a match in a dried
tender box, hit the internet, the movement really
of economic trouble, so did the Tea Party.
took off. Only a week later, Tea Party groups held

In 2008, a widespread financial crisis had
nations around the world scrambling to try to pre- protests in 40 cities urging Congress to repeal the
stimulus plan. Few media outlets initially took
vent deeper economic losses. As ordinary people
in America saw their life savings and 401(k)s sink- much notice, and those that did were somewhat
dismissive.
ing into danger zones, they focused their fear and

It was the April 15, 2009 Tax Day protests
anger on the federal government and Wall Street.
that finally gained the attention of the mainstream
The first stirrings of frustration began during the

The Best of ESU 6

media. Hundreds of events were held all over the
country, drawing more than 250,000 people (Tea
Party Movement). There was no central planner,
but rather the events were organized primarily by
individuals who were disenchanted with establishment politicians from both parties. Their primary
focus was against excessive government spending,
concern about the national debt and deficit, bailouts and, as time went on, the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Various
groups tried to define or co-op the Tea Party, but
found it difficult to do either.

The year 2010 marked the high point in
the Tea Party movement, at least to date. As the
movement gained strength, it attracted high profile
supporters like former vice presidential candidate
Sarah Palin and conservative commentator Glenn
Beck. With the support of the Tea Party, Republican Scott Brown shocked political observers in
both parties when he won Teddy Kennedys old
Senate seat in Massachusetts. In Congress, the
mid-term elections saw Tea Party candidates take
more than 60 seats, mostly in the House of Representatives, thus shifting the majority in the House
from Democrat to Republican and losing the
Democrats filibuster-proof majority in the Senate
(Pilkington). The Tea Party movement was named
a runner-up on TIMEs 2010 Person of the Year
list. In an article describing the reason for that
selection, author David Von Drehle observed that:
The surprising thing about the Tea Party movement is how many experts were surprised by it.
The U.S. has always been home to a large group
of people who think government is too big and
spends too much. Why wouldnt those people rise
up when the already gargantuan federal deficit
more than tripled seemingly overnight?

The demographics of the Tea Party are difficult to pin down. Dozens of polls and studies have
been conducted, with different results. A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in 2010 found that Tea
Party supporters skew right politically; but demographically, they are generally representative of the
public at large. In spite of frequent accusations

of racism, the Tea Party looks much like America,

with members of all races represented. In fact,
many of the most prominent voices in the Tea
Party are people of color, such as Allen West, Ben
Carson, Herman Cain, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio,
Bobby Jindal, Star Parker, Alan Keyes, Kevin Jackson, Lloyd Marcus, et al. In 2010 Patrik Jonsson,
writing for The Christian Science Monitor, opined
that polls suggest that tea party activists are not
only more mainstream than many critics suggest,
but that a majority of them are women (primarily mothers), not angry white men. Jonathan S.
Tobin observed that the Tea Party is not just a
bunch of activists who go to conventions but, in
fact, a broad cross-section of Americans who share
their basic beliefs about the role of government.

Media coverage of the Tea Party has become part of the story of the Tea Party movement.
While the movement has been able to take good
advantage of alternative media outlets, it has been
widely vilified by mainstream media commentators, from blaming the movement for the shooting
of Rep. Gabby Giffords (Krugman) to calling them
terrorists and comparing them to Hezbollah
(Nocera, Friedman), and from mockingly referring to Tea Party members by the sexual term
teabaggers (Rovzar, Linkins) to blaming the Tea
Party for mass murder and other violent acts (Of
Massacres). With this constant onslaught, and due
to several poor selections of candidates by the Tea
Party, it was inevitable that public opinion would
begin to turn against the Tea Party. In the 2012
elections, there were a few electoral successes, such
as Ted Cruz, but numerous other candidates failed.

By 2013 there were serious skirmishes
between Tea Party proponents and establishment
moderate Republicans. The government shutdown
of 2013 exposed deep differences between the
methods preferred by the two factions to achieve
mostly similar goals. Still, many Americans remain frustrated by increasingly unsustainable debt
and a lack of will to control spending in Washington, so the Tea Party remains a potent force.
While some, including prominent members of the

The Best of ESU 7

Republican Party like Sen. Mitch McConnell and
Sen. John McCain, believe the Tea Partys power
has been broken, they might do well to consider
the words of Mark Twain: The reports of my
death have been greatly exaggerated.

Though the Tea Party emerged in response
to several specific actions by the federal government, it has grown to include a far larger range
of issues and continues to drive debate on those
issues and make compromise more difficult. The
Tea Party has never been an easily defined or controlled movement, which has been both a benefit
and a draw-back. Tea Party candidates continue
to emerge, and due to the massive problems with
Obamacare, may see some success in the 2014
and 2016 election cycles. However, there continues to be increasing animosity between the Tea
Party and the GOP establishment, which could
damage Republican hopes for years to come as
each side continues to vocally criticize the other
and perhaps split the GOP vote.

So are Tea Partiers angry racists with no
goal other than to stymie the efforts of liberals,
or are they patriots in the mold of the men who
donned war paint and feathers and threw tea into
the bay at Boston so long ago, simply desiring
reduced taxes and controlled spending? If it has
accomplished nothing else, the Tea Party movement has resulted in a public that no longer sees
as much difference between the Democrat and the
Republican parties, and it has brought into the political arena millions of Americans who had never
before held a sign in protest. This is the legacy of
the Tea Party.

The Best of ESU 8

Works Cited
Friedman, Thomas. Cant We Do This Right. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 26

Jul. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Jonsson, Patrik. Amid harsh criticisms, Tea Party slips into the mainstream. The Christian Science
Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor. 3 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Krugman, Paul. Assassination Attempt in Arizona. The New York Times. The New York Times

Company. 8 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Linkins, Jason. Tea Bagging Rallies Ruthlessly Mocked on Maddow Show. The Huffington Post. The

HuffingtonPost.com Inc. 10 May 2009. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Nocera, Joe. The Tea Partys War on America. The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1

Aug. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Of massacres and media myths. New York Post. NYP Holdings, Inc. 24 Jul. 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Pilkington, Ed. Happy third birthday, Tea Party! The Guardian: US News Blog. 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 16

Mar. 2016.
Populist. Websters New Collegiate Dictionary. G. & C. Merriam Co. 1977 ed. Print.
President Signs Massive Stimulus In Denver. ABC 7News Denver. TheDenverChannel.com. 17 Feb.

2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Rovzar, Chris. Anderson Cooper: Its Hard To Talk When Youre Tea Bagging. New York Magazine.

New York Media LLC. 15 Apr. 2009. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Saad, Lydia. Tea Partiers are Fairly Mainstream in Their Demographics. Gallup Politics. Gallup Inc. 5

Apr. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
St. Clair, Neil. A tea party to protest Patersons taxes. Time Warner Cable News/Central New York.

Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC. 24 Jan. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Tea Party Movement. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2014.Web. 16

Mar 2014.
Tobin, Jonathan S. The State of the Tea Party 2014. www.commentarymagazine.com. Commentary

Magazine. 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Von Drehle, David. TIMEs 2010 Person of the Year Runner-Up: The Tea Party. TIME. Time Inc. 15

Dec. 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Zernike, Kate. Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early. The New York Times. The New York

Times Company. 27 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

The Best of ESU 9

Jonathan Holsapple
Junior
EG310 ZA
Dr. Cynthia Patton
Fall 2013

The Oppression of Gola

Science fiction is a genre of literature

represent a tertiary form of the Amazon. Their

appearance is grossly exaggerated . . . They are
that traditionally explores the consequences of
women whose bodies have taken on super-femscientific innovation, but has also been used by
authors as a device to discuss philosophical ideas, inine, rounded, blond, non-human dimension,
forms emphasizing the body as [a] devouring
(Stemexpo.org). In Leslie F. Stones science fiction short story, The Conquest of Gola, the author mouth, as it is described by the Golans as capable
incorporates the mechanisms of traditional science of absorbing food and drink through any part
of the body most convenient at the time (Stone
fiction, depicting a world scientifically different
from our own, but uses the genre to explore issues 38). Weinbaum goes on to suggest that, through
this depiction, Stone is ridiculing the male fear of
that dominated the 1930s society in which it was
the Freudian vagina dentata (the folktale belief in
written. In the creation of this enduring story,
Stone delivers a feminist commentary on womens which a womans vagina is said to contain teeth, resulting in castration of the mans phallus during inidentity in society, the morality of imperialism,
tercourse), a point with sexually hostile overtones
and the resulting social structure that causes opthat echo throughout the story. In this way, Stone
pression against women.
uses the female Golan body as a satirical counter
Beginning with the concept of identity
point to popular Freudian ideas gaining currency
in society, a theme of superiority takes shape in
Stones story, with a twist on where the dominance when Stone was writing her story to punctuate
is held. Set on the planet Gola, it is the females of her underlying theme of feminism (Weinbaum).
Another revealing perception of the female Golan
the Golan race that hold complete authority, not
body is found through comparison of it with the
the males. According to Batya Weinbaums essay,
Sex-Role Reversal in the Thirties: Leslie F. Stones depiction of alien female bodies created by other
science fiction writers of the time. Able to fight off
The Conquest of Gola, in creating this Golan
attacks and defend their planet with brute strength
society of female supremacy, Stones work seems
and physically dominant bodies, Stones Golan
to reflect intellectual currents of the times [for]
Stone wrote and published her story at time when women are in sharp contrast with these other
the economic pressures of the Depression brought representations of women in science fiction, for
according to Weinbaum it was typical practice for
gender differences and antagonism to light. The
science fiction writers of this era to instead create
collective identity of the Golan female is very
womens worlds in which women appeared to be
much like the desired identity of women at the
time of the Great Depression -- with fulfillment of like angels. Weinbaum, expanding upon Davies
argument, goes on to explain how women were
the desire for egalitarian inclusion of women in
also portrayed in the genre as white, beautiful,
the cultural arena (Weinbaum).
tall, athletic and clad in revealing garments, often

Stones physical description of the Golan
portrayed in stereotypical family situations as secwomen in The Conquest of Gola, according to
ondary to men. This angelic representation of
Weinbaum, also speaks to their identity, for they

The Best of ESU 10

women arguably speaks most to the heavily masculine state of mind existing at the time of publication in the 1930s, an era in which women were
still fighting for equality. With women winning
the right to vote just a decade previous to publication, Stone wrote and published The Conquest
of Gola at a time when economic pressures of the
Depression brought gender difference and gender
antagonism to light, making her suspicious view
of the reality of societys acceptance of women
central to work (Weinbaum). As such, her short
story commentates on the antagonism, while also
commenting on the heavily masculine concept of
expansionism and the feminist perspective of its
morality.

Addressing the central conflict of the story,
the Detaxalan invasion of Gola, the unnamed
first person female Golan narrator, introduces the
reader to Detaxal creatures by degrading their
physical appearance, calling their bodies poorly
organized . . . so unlike our own highly developed
organisms, and generalizing this physique as a
symbolic representation of their overall ugliness,
and proof of their lowliness of their origin, (Stone
39). This physical description, as demeaning as
it is, is purposeful as a means for Stone to further
demonstrate why the Detaxals (a male dominated
society) resort to the practice of imperialism,
because, according to the narrator, imperialism
itself is only practiced by less enlightened, less
progressed, societies. The narrator explains that it
is easily understandable to her that one might find
Gola a desired planet for expansion, because it is
filled with beauty, resources, and thick clouds protecting it from the harmful effects of its neighboring star -- and conceding that Long ago, we too
might have gone on exploring expeditions to other
worlds, other universes . . . powerfully strong with
our mighty force rays, we could subjugate all the
universe. However, the narrator communicates
the current Golan disdain for such endeavors with
the simple conclusion of but why? Through the
narrators questioning the reasons of imperialism,
Stone is arguably doing two things: (1) directly

declaring her view that the ideal of imperialism

is obsolete and held in the mind of only those of
less intelligence and, (2) more subtly commentating on the masculine ideal through questioning
masculinitys benefit to advanced societies. The
link between these two points is not coincidental,
nor negligible. In Stones view the mind that embraces the ideal of imperialism is clearly the same
mind programed for the subversion of others, thus
unifying her feminist view with her postcolonial
analysis. Like her feminist views toward the female
state, Stones anti-imperialistic views likely stem
from the realities of American society at the time
the story was published. As Weinbaum notes, the
driving forces that led to World War I were expansionism, imperialism, and colonialism. It is from
this larger perspective that imperialism comes to
be depicted in Stones work as the moral equivalent
to the act of rape on women (again reasserting
the sexual hostility pervasively underlying Stones
view).

No act can be considered more sexually
hostile than the act of rape, and the issue of rape
extends back as far as human history itself. From
the myths of the ancient Greeks to the Christian
Bible, rape has always been a contentious topic,
especially so amongst feminist writers. The metaphorical rape that takes place in The Conquest
of Gola is very clearly portrayed through the
intrusive acts of the Detaxals upon Golan society. Weinbaum explains how the arrival of the
Detaxal population can easily be interpreted as an
imperialistic rape, in that it is the men [whom]
arrived to conquer, to lay waste, to struggle and
fight as animals do, over the women dominated
society that is Gola. Stone further emphasizes
this metaphorical rape of the Golans in the vivid
description of dialogue and events between the
Golans and Detaxals. As seen in their first arrival
amongst Golans, the Detaxals, after being greeted
by the Golan women, immediately request to
speak to those in charge, asking to speak to their
King or their male leaders for, it takes the men to
see the profit of a thing like this (Stone 43). Dis

The Best of ESU 11

covering that it is, in fact, these women who rule
the planet, the Detaxals, though apologizing in a
manner, also laugh with a heathenish sound and
demonstrate their unwavering male chauvinistic
ideals by claiming that the Golan womens dominance is further proof that Gola is unfortunate
to have such a low type of men on their planet
(Stone 41). The portrayal of the invasion as metaphorical rape becomes most clear after the Detaxals are denied business privileges with the planet.
The male leader of the Detaxals declares, I have
given you your chance to accept our terms, but
since you refuse I will have to take you forcibly
for we are determined that Gola become one of us
. . . You may go now to your supercilious queen
and advise her that we give her exactly ten hours
to evacuate, threatening to lay the city in ruins
if Golans choose to not comply (citation). Ultimately, due in part to the Queens dismissal of the
threats, but also to the Golans lack of understanding of the alien time metric of hours, the Detaxals arrive and begin to wreak destruction upon
the unprepared Golan people, thus beginning the
metaphorical rape. Stones story-telling here is
clear and direct; themes have been established and
metaphors deployed, and now the narrative must
be allowed to drive the story forward so that the
author can communicate her full thesis.

While the preliminary acts of the Detaxals leave little question that the horrific act of rape
is the metaphor of Stones story, the description
of the invasion itself is written to convey the idea
with certainty. Stone writes that the Detaxals first
came pushing through the clouds, seeking that
which lay beneath unwarned until the two cylinders hung directly above. This conjured image
of two circular objects hanging above the Golan
planet as the Detaxals push through the sky can
clearly be seen as another means to illustrate the
metaphorical initiation of the rape of the Golan
people. The stark imagery is described in a purposeful manner, to symbolize the male penis and
testicles hanging over the female Golan society.
Deepening the emotional wounds of the event, af-

ter the invasion of Gola begins, the Golans call for

the departure of their invaders, only to be laughed
at and told by the Detaxalan leader in unapologetic terms that they came to Gola with the express
purpose of exploration and exploitation (Stone
42-43). Once again, Stone employs hostile overtones related to sex to affect her tone, and to lay
the groundwork for what is to come in the story.

As previously noted, the notion of the
exploitation of the female dominated society of
Gola also speaks to the social structure and the
oppression of women specific to the era in which
the story was published. With the occurrence of
World War I, just over a decade prior to publication, the demand for women workers across the
country had increased dramatically due to the
unprecedented number of men being called away
to serve in battle. When this happened, the options for women, in terms of profession, became
greatly expanded. From medical to industrial
fields, women were afforded opportunities never
before available to them. However, as liberating
as this turn of circumstance may have seen at the
time, oppression still simmered in the midst of the
time, and became undeniable once again in the aftermath. Being in high demand, women were able
to find numerous jobs; however, they still received
significantly lower pay than the men working
these same jobs, effectively exploiting the females
increased roles as they eagerly accepted them as
opportunity. Equally disturbingly, but even more
disheartening to the women of the time, after
the war was over and the male soldiers returned
home, the jobs assumed by the women in the time
of the countrys need were essentially taken from
them and given back to the men, with the overriding expectation that women would simply want
to return to their homes and be housewives once
again (Wilde). In Stones short story, the result of
the Detaxals invasion ultimately evokes an eerily
similar feeling of this exploitation and overriding
oppression.

Returning to the narrative of The Conquest
of Gola, acting to defend their planet from the

invasion of the Detaxals, the Golans mindfully

begin activating their defense shields and beams.
After the beams bring down one of the Detaxalan
flyers, the Golan women remain calm and in doing
so, subtly demonstrate their superior quality of
composure), and proceed in a logical manner. As
they cut a hole into the flyer and enter the ship,
they are met by the Detaxals, gazing back with
fear (Stone 46.) Here, Stone abandons subtlety
and emphasizes her point of female superiority, as
the narrator states, They, [the men] could have
fought against it if they had known how, but their
simple minds were too weak for such exercise.
Having written the Golans as the victors of this
battle, Stones short story aligns quite well with
the victory women of the early 20th century felt
after receiving the opportunity to work outside
the home in a wide variety of fields, and thereby
achieving the feminist ideal that women are, and
should be seen as, equal to men. However, as previously mentioned, with this victory also came the
eventual discouraging oppression of women back
into societys expectations of them as housewives,
inferior to men. This repression of womens tenuous position in society is presented in Stones risky
but calculated turn of her Golan women protagonists into instruments of satire in the very moment
their victory is won and the stage is set for happy
ending. Stone, endeavoring to tell no such simple
tale, and having used satire as a descriptive element already, now commits to her message in an
unexpected way. Having written the Golans as the
victors of the battle, Stone depicts the Golans as
not only capturing the helpless Detaxalan males,
but also taking the jarring step of dissecting some
of them as scientific specimens. This seemingly
outrages act by the would-be heroines of the story
is viewed by critics as Stones triumphant use of
satire, infused from her continuing undertones of
sexual hostility, and reaching to extremes to convey her concept of the exploitation perpetuated
against the women workers of World War I. While
extreme, Stones use of this storytelling element is
both plausible in her science fiction narrative, and

The Best of ESU 12

delivers the idea that superiority is a dynamic that

is always in play.

To further represent this idea, the narrator speaks of the Golan leader Geble, who found
pleasure in having the poor creatures around . . .
so she could delve into their brains as she pleased
(Stone 45). This act of using the Detaxals for pleasure is consistent with Stones now established satirical turn in tone, in that the usage of the Detaxalan males as being nothing more than mind toys
to the Golan women is similar to the sexist idea of
women being nothing more than sex toys to men
of the 1930s. Additionally, Weinbaum interestingly notes that with the dissecting of the Detaxalans for the advancement of Golan knowledge,
Stone is simultaneously critiquing the human use
of animals, as she also does in The Human Pets
of Mars, demonstrating another congruency with
modern feminist aims. This explicit display of authoritarian rule in Stones short story is, as Weinbaum explains, rather unusual, since [this authoritarian trait displayed by the Golans] is more often
associated with all-female or women-dominated
fantasies created by men. Unusual and unexpected as it may be, Stones narrative approach makes
her point. The act of dissection itself illustrates
the inferiority of the Detaxalan society, in that by
being defeated, captured, and dissected, the Detaxals must be inferior beings. As it is the Detaxals
that hold imperialistic views, through this passage,
Stone is able to emphasize once again how the ideals of imperialism must be held in value within the
most inferior of minds, and relates those minds to
essentially being nothing more than animals.

Eventually growing tired of the boring
creatures, Geble gifts the narrator with one, named
Jon, to whom she then mistakenly (as will later
be seen) gives complete freedom in her house.
Again, the Detaxalan males, having arrived on
Gola with the action of primitive animals in their
struggle to conqueror and lay waste, ultimately
conclude their mission with them being treated
subserviently as such until, however, they come
later in the story yet again, forcibly and unfore

The Best of ESU 13

seen. Even after being defeated and treated as

greatly inferior beings to the Golans, the Detaxals return, perhaps representing Stones view of
imperialism as insanity for, as famously characterized by Albert Einstein, insanity is simply defined
as the act of doing the same thing time and time
again but expecting different results.

The return begins when, having kept the
shield active for sometime, the Golans eventually
begin to lose power. One night, while the Golans
are sleeping, the Detaxals discover that one of the
shields is down. Upon awakening, the narrator
states that she found the ugly form of Jon bending
over me, and when she tries to rise up, he forces
her against the couch and binds her tightly with
rope. The same restraint takes place against Geble
and every other woman member of the council of
Gola. Once again the sexually hostile undertone
of the story is stoked but not ignited, as Stone is
mindful to make her points without distraction.
In this powerful depiction, Stone is simultaneously speaking to both the oppression of women
in 1930s society, and to the more universal exploitation of societies under siege by the imperialist
countries of the West.

The Detaxalan males demonstrate their
simplistic assessment of Gola as a world they can
make favorable for business, with far more
to offer to tourists than that of other neighboring planets -- after, that is, the eradication of the
clouds takes place (Stone 43). For, as the Detaxals foolishly believe, the clouds have no beauty
or benefit to the planet, ignoring the beliefs and
knowledge of the Golan race. This position not
only illustrates the Detaxals simple-mindedness,
but also demonstrates their arrogance, and further
underlines the Detaxalan male chauvinist ideals.
The narrator reflects with regret that the invading
act of restraint inflicted upon the Golan women
was the consequence of their having allowed the
Detaxals the eventual freedom bestowed upon
them, for a weak mind is open to seeds of rebellion and the Detaxals had sown it well (Stone 46).
Weinbaum states that it is here that Stone implies

that men must be kept unequal and debased.

Otherwise, as [Stone] demonstrates in her story,
they will rape and have a tendency towards using
brute strength and violence to dominate women,
further illustrating the feeling of oppression
against women in society at the time, and making
the final reference of the place of sexual hostility in
gender relations.

Eventually, the Golan women free themselves, and in the end display once again their
power of superiority over the Detaxal men by
using their powers of the collective mind to disintegrate every ship and man into nothingness
. . . (Stone 48). These last words spoken by the
narrator are of particular interest for, after closer
examination, they seemingly parallel the expressed
feelings of women after being the victims of rape.
Mila Jaroniec, a rape victim and author of the
article What I Felt after Being Raped, describes
the feeling as Wanting to not exist, collapse into
the floor and decay. This description significantly
parallels the description of the Detaxalan ship and
men being literally disintegrated into nothingness,
and in doing so serves to convey the universal
sense of oppression found in such events. It is not
coincidental that Stone, writing about the sense
of oppression and exploitation of women in 1930s
society uses such a strong and timeless metaphor
to speak to the unbalanced and unjust social structure of her time.

In her story, The Conquest of Gola, Leslie
F. Stone uses the literary devices specifically available through the genre of science fiction, and the
extreme reaches of literary style itself, to make the
arguments she sets out to make. This endeavor
results not only in a daring and enduring work of
literature, but also in a prevailing and universal reflection of the female state. As such, Stones story
can be read as a feminist-based, but universally
sound, commentary on womens identity in society, the morality of imperialism, and the resulting
social structure that causes oppression against
women.

Works Cited

The Best of ESU 14

Jaroniec, Mila. What I Felt After Getting Raped. ThoughCatalog.com. Web. 20 Nov 2103.
Science Fiction. Stemexpo.org. Stemexpo.org. Web. 10 Nov 2013. http://stemexpo.org/category/Sci
enceFiction.
Stone, Leslie. The Conquest of Gola. Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth

Century. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2006. 36-49. Print.
Weinbaum, Batya. Sex-Role Reversal in the Thirties: Leslie F. Stones The Conquest of Gola. depauw.

edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2013.
Wilde, Robert. Women and Work in World War 1. EuropeanHistory.about.com. Web. 17 Nov 2013.

The Best of ESU 15

Marilyn Kearney
Junior
EG 520
Dr. Cynthia Patton
Spring 2014

Mono no Aware in Pom Poko

Mono no Awarethe appreciation

ally, by a construction crane. Though the viewer

knows that a human must be operating the crane,
for the fleeting nature of everything around us
the fact that they are shown simply the mouth of
is the driving force behind Takahata Isaos 1994
Ghibli film Pom Poko. From beginning to end, it is the crane and not the face of the person operata force which the raccoons of the Tama Hills fight ing it takes this shattering of equilibrium into the
realm of mono no aware. Lacking a face, the crane
against with ultimately fruitless efforts; a force
becomes impersonalan embodiment of objective
personified by the humans and their continuous
transformation of the landscape the raccoons have change which is neither good nor bad, but simply
known their entire lives. However, it is so inescap- is. What happened to the raccoons to bring about
the conflict was not a malicious act, but rather a
able that the raccoons themselves can be seen to
consequence of the nature of the world: to change,
embody it even as they rebel against it, showing
to pass, to move on.
at the same time the inescapability of change and
The point is furthered by the battle bethe natural tendencies of living creatures to engage
tween the raccoons of Taka and Suzu woods. It
in mono no aware because of it. The struggles of
seems, at first, that one side will have to win
the raccoons, the portrayal of the humans which
they struggle against, and the moments when both even with the absurdity of the battle itselfuntil
Oroku emerges from the woods, beating a drum
human and raccoon parallel the other, all come
together to turn the bittersweet notion of mono no and chanting that there is no way to win, that the
aware into an almost physical presence throughout will have to control [themselves]! Stop having
children! (Takahata). Her message is twofold: she
the course of the entire film. Change itself is the
antagonist in the film, and the only way to defeat it is telling them that the raccoons are not the enis to embrace it, appreciate it, and learn to live with emy, and that they will have to change in order to
survive. She is telling them, not in so many words,
it.
that nature is changing around them, and so they

The film begins the way it does to make
must, too. At the same time, she is telling somesure the viewer knows this. Viewers are shown
thing similar to the viewer. The audience is being
an opening shot with a soft, calming piano untold exactly what will transpire in the film, at least
derscore and a calm female narrator telling them
at its most basic element: the raccoons will not be
about the lives of the raccoons, and how they
have always lived close with humans (Takahata). battling each other, but instead fighting to adapt
to their changing world, as well as fighting against
The narrator continues to speak as the shot pans
that change. That the viewer also sees the two
over, showing a human walking with a bundle on
young raccoons dancing and clapping their sticks
their back, panning over fields of rice and a small
together as though it were a game foreshadows
walking path, to show a raccoon sitting on the
their reluctance.
opposite path, slightly obscured by grass. This is

This is how the raccoons begin their fight
the equilibrium of Pom Poko: the state of perfect
against not the humans themselves, but the change
coexistence which is ripped asunder, quite liter-

they represent. The raccoons, however, are not

without their own instances of mono no aware,
even if they are not aware. The nature of their
battle plan, for instance, is contradictory to their
ultimate goal. They wish for the humans to cease
changing their land, yet they change themselves
in the process. They bring a TV into their old
abandoned temple of a headquarterseach a stark
contrast to one anotherand determine to study
the ways of humans and of shape shifting. They
study how to change, even as they work to keep it
away from themselves. This contradiction is subtle,
and used especially for comedic purposes, such
as when the elders conclude their meeting in the
temple by eating hamburgers from McDonalds
(Takahata), but it also shows the overall inescapability of change, even when one isnt aware of it.
The raccoons themselves do not experience mono
no aware, as they practice changing themselves
and move on from eating persimmons to burgers,
but the absurdity of it sticks in the viewers mind,
the nature of change in this instance making them
laugh.

One of the key examples of mono no aware,
in fact, comes from the raccoons. Kiyo and Shokichi are on a hilltop, listening to their fellow
raccoons singing the song from the traditional
Temari Ball game (Yannucci). Kiyo joins in, singing There was a raccoon from Senba. Along came
a hunter before she stops and turns to say that
her grandpa was shot by a hunter (Takahata).
This she says with the same smile on her face that
she wore when Shokichi found her. The transition
between the singing and that sad truth is jarring.
Shokichi offers his sympathies, but she only continues to smile, assuring him thats okSomeone
paid a lot for his pelt (Takahata). This exchange,
at first, seems strange. The reactions, especially to
a western audience who might not have any grasp
on the concept of mono no aware, seem strange as
well. What Kiyo is displaying, however, is nothing
less than a prime example of mono no aware. She
recognizes the past by mentioning her grandfather, and at the same time gives an example of how

The Best of ESU 16

quickly things can changesuch as someone you

love dying. That someone paid a lot to his pelt is
a statement to the value her grandfather still had,
and to the happiness that his fur brought to someone else. Kiyo is recognizing the cycle of life as it
is, happiness fading from one person and going
into another. She experienced great change with
the death of her family member, yet instead of
weeping over it, she smiles and appreciates it. After
that, her grandfather isnt mentioned again. In the
fashion of mono no aware, he is appreciated, and
then he is let go.

The humans as well are both manifestations of change and mono no aware, as well as
being practitioners of it. As previously stated, the
humans themselves are never portrayed as being
malicious towards the raccoons. Though they are
clearing the forests for development, they are not
doing it to hurt anyone, but rather to help themselves. Their actions are first likened to those of insects, shown in the scene near the beginning of the
film where a number of small cranes and bulldozers crawl over a large leaf like tiny, hungry bugs.
The leaf is mostly destroyed, but insects would not
have anything against the leaf; they simply have
to live. In the following shot, the narration says
that [they] always thought [humans] were animals, just like [them]they must be even more
powerful than the gods, (Takahata) while over
the dialogue a giant lounging Buddha digs out
part of a mountain, and three monks till the land
around him. Humans are being deified rather than
demonized. They are a force, but not a malicious
one. In fact, when the raccoons begin to treat them
as though they were malicious, directly attacking construction workers, the viewers sympathies
become muddled. One man is seen screaming in
his car because a group of raccoons disguise as a
tree fall into his path, causing him to fall off a cliff.
Another does the same, and the camera shows
his truck roll over at least three times, with the
driver-side window being the first one to crack.
The audience doesnt know these workers, but by
consequence neither does the audience hate them.

The Best of ESU 17

Their terror and their death conflict with the

peaceful, god-like and insect-like comparisons
made earlier in the film. This conflict is made
manifest in Shokichi, who wonders if the more
harmless tactics will really drive out the humans
and if it doesnt matter if one or two get killed
(Takahata).

The question of whether or not killing the
humans is wrong is not answered, but rather the
raccoons move on to look at what would be more
efficient. The humans are change incarnate. The
raccoons cannot win by fighting that change forcefully, as seen in the continuing construction despite
the deaths on the site, but can only do so by appreciating it. The three masters speak not of using
force, but of gaining the humans respect, as it is a
fact that the humans revere [them] and they are
worshipped in every shrine and temple in Shikoku (Takahata). The key is not to force them out
or even kill them, but to share respect. The humans
and their change are to be respected, just as the
concept of mono no aware dictates.

It is near the very end of the film when the
humans, both in the audience and in the film, are
faced with another one of the films prime examples
of mono no aware. Defeated, the raccoons look
upon their hills as they used to be one last time,
by shape shifting most of the new development
to look as it did years ago. One shot holds on the
mirage of a man tossing logs into a kiln in front of
an apartment building. Another that follows pans
down after a building crumbles away, showing the
depth of the valley and the small houses and rice
paddies which had occupied it as compared to the
height built in by construction. A startled woman
exclaims, thats mother! And Yotchan! (Takahata)
before rushing off down the illusory dirt path to
meet them, and a long panning shot shows that all
four seasons are represented at once in the illusion,
with the woods covered in snow in one place and
painted autumn-red and green in another. The past
is literally placed before the present, the representation of the seasons laying out the essence of mono
no aware before them: the changing seasons, and

the lives of people they knew, all long since gone

with change. The raccoons do the same, rushing
after the images of their former selves, but the illusion evaporates in an instant.

In the last scene of the film is when the humans and the raccoons come together to show the
best of the films examples of mono no aware. The
raccoons ultimately give-in to change and adapt to
human customs and a human lifestyle in order to
survive. They do not turn completely into humans,
so to speak, however, and as an upbeat song begins,
Shokichi runs to a group of a raccoonsthe remains of his family that couldnt shape shiftdancing and celebrating. As he runs, he strips off parts
of his human disguise: his clothes, his briefcase,
and finally the guise itself as he clasps his brothers
hands. This moment is the old meeting the new,
and meeting it with a smile. Shokichi will have to
return to his new human existence, but if only for
that night, he will be able to dance and appreciate
the past. There is a decidedly bittersweet feeling to
the scene. The raccoons are dancing as they have
been for years, but they are doing in the middle of
a modern golf course. The large group of raccoons
seen throughout has dwindled to a small ring, seen
from above on the green of the course. The music
encourages happiness, however, even in the face of
the sad reality of the changed lives of the raccoons.
This shot, this short scene itself which precedes the
credits, encompass the theme of mono no aware
that runs throughout the film.

It is not through fighting change that one
gains happiness, but through accepting it. Mono
no aware is used here to show that change is large,
change is objective, and change is inevitable, but
change is not malicious. Change may bring pain
with it, but its not impossible to accept that pain
and grow to find happiness again. What Pom Poko
tells its audience may not be the happiest thing, but
it is one aspect of the potential happiness one can
have. Through mono no aware, one can find joy
in the sadness that comes with the passing of time
and the inevitable changing of the world around
them.

The Best of ESU 18

Works Cited
Pom Poko. Dir. Isao Takahata. Prod. Toshio Suzuki. By Isao Takahata. Perf. Nonomura Makoto,

Kokontei Shincho, Ishida Yuriko. Studio Ghibli, 1994. Web.
Yannucci, Lisa. Japanese Temari Ball Game Song. Mama Lisas World of Children and International
Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

The Best of ESU 19

Ashley Lundblom
Senior
EG339 A
Dr. Joshua Easterling
Spring 2013

An Exploration of Motherhood in
Shakespeares Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Romances differ from the earlier

England under the thumb of Queen Elizabeth I,

it seems that Shakespeare may have created such
[Shakespeare] plays in their scope; they present
women figures to mock, or perhaps to even subtly
the whole cycle, often ranging over several crises
advise Elizabeth I on how to act. Pericles seems to
in different generations, writes Meredith Skura
be a sort of warning to her in some respects; for
in one of her essays (204). This is quite true for
instance King Antiochus closes off his daughter
Shakespeares romance Pericles, Prince of Trye,
to succession; Elizabeth closes herself off to succesa captivating play that focuses on what it means
sion as well with never taking a husband (and thus
to be a good king. In respect to one of our class
enclosing England in itself). Antiochus daughter
themes (family relations) I would like to focus on
is just the first of the many female roles we see
the role of motherhood, which this play demonplayed out in Pericles, a role which seems to give
strates many forms of. Generally, a romance will
one extreme to the audience who then can cominclude a great deal of traveling, usually by sea to
pare and contrast the other female roles as they are
exotic or foreign coasts, elements of the marvelous or exotic (such as the dead being raised to life introduced. The Folger Shakespeare Library rightly
or divine intervention by Roman gods/goddesses) states that it is gratifying to recognize that Shakeand there are usually highly disturbing representa- speare dramatized many faces of womanhood
tions of sexuality or sexual seduction. Miraculous -- her infinite variety-- for his time and for every
age since (Ferington).
events, like child birth during a storm at sea, or

Motherhood is the key to the continuraising a person from the dead occur alongside
ation of life or succession. For a king, motherthese romantic elements. These elements demonhood is especially important because if his queen
strate the many roles of motherhood, or demonbears him a son then he automatically has an heir
strate the lack of motherhood and depending on
to his throne. A daughter can be an heir to the
the successfulness of the mother, help dictate the
role of enclosure or restoration after motherhood. throne but this brings up the tension of who she
will marry or if she will marry who she is sup
Women in Shakespearean plays mostly
posed to when the time comes (a good example
follow a traditional model of the good woman:
obedient, silent and chaste. However, Shakespeare of this is Immogen in the romance of Cymbeline
who refuses to marry her step brother and instead
could not write every woman this way; writing
marries her lover). Skura identifies the problem
many of his plays with Elizabeth I on the throne,
Shakespeare created heroines who operate in, rebel by noting that: [the familys] success in raising
children ensures that they will want to leave or to
against, attempt to rule, or are crushed by a social
structure largely determined by men (Ferington). take over in the wrong way. As the crisis recurs in
each generation, both parents and children have to
The romance in Pericles is no exception. With

The Best of ESU 20

find the right balance between holding on and letting go; they must avoid the threat of an ingrown
family collapsing in on itself and the threat of an
explosion that will tear the family apart. (205).
As far as plays we have studied in class this semester, Pericles is the first play in which we actually
see a female go through the cycle of motherhood
and see the first baby as well. We see King Simonides test man after man to see who is most worthy of his daughter (knowing that she is the only
heir to his throne) and while we know that Pericles
is not only a king (so he would be Thaisas, King
Simonides daughters, equal) he is also of good
moral character. Knowing Thaisa has chosen him
to be hers, King Simonides has to test him as well,
equals to equals, good to good is joined. This
not being so, the bavin of your mind, in rashness
kindled must again be quenched, or purchase our
displeasure. -- And for you, sir, first learn to know
I banish you my court, and yet I scorn our rage
should stoop so low. For your ambition, sir, Ill
have your life. (9.88-94). King Simonides ends
the scene a few lines later by declaring to Pericles:
And you sir, hear you: either be ruled by me -- or
I shall make you man and wife. Nay, come, your
hands and lips must seal it too. (9.104-106).
Soon after the couple are united, there is much
celebration and feasting and one can assume much
copulation as well. Food is often likened to sex and
when Pericles first came to King Simonides place,
he did not eat very much (nor copulate), being in
a depressed state. After he is married however, his
world looks much brighter and we soon learn that
Thaisa is pregnant. While there is much joy at the
fruits of her labor, it comes with a great cost: believing that Thaisa has died in childbirth she is set
on the stormy sea enclosed in a chest. When she is
discovered, it is as if she has been raised from the
dead, and she immediately goes to Dianas temple
(the Roman goddess of chastity). In being separated from her family she would rather live as one
of the temple maids, than be remarried, therefore
Thaisa has gone from being a maiden to a mother
and is now back to a maiden figure.

As we come to see, though, fruits do not fall far

from the tree, as the saying goes. Pericles is not
quite sure how to raise a daughter on his own and
gives her to another couple to raise, thus abandoning possible intimate relations with her for the
time being. Marina seems to grow up well under
the care of Cleon and Dionyza, until her beauty
rivals that of their own daughter, at which time
she finds herself expelled from the family unit and
carried away to a brothel. Just like her mother kept
her virtue after finding herself in a strange land,
Marina too keeps her virtue in this strange land
(the brothel) where men only want to use her.
It is in this strange land that we find Marina
holding onto her virtue and maidenhead by her
swift thinking and tactful tongue. She becomes a
hagiographic symbol in this way, preaching the
value of ones virtue so passionately that she convinces every man who comes to take hers not to.
In the Homeric Hymn to Artemis Homer writes
that Artemis (the Greek equivalent to the Roman
Diana) delights in drawing her bow, all of gold,
and shooting her deadly shafts (qtd. in Powell
208). This imagery seems to parallel Marina in
the brothel. Her words are like the deadly shafts
which kill the mens desires who come to take
from her. Since Marina is so successful in her persuasion, she keeps her virginity and is open to the
potential motherhood that lays in her future.
Enclosure is a threatening presence throughout
Pericles, and we glimpse what it means to be
closed off in the first scene. King Antiochus has
lost his queen in some unknown fashion and is
left with only a daughter, which he seems to hold
close, too close. Skura writes, The threat of holding on too tightly is seen most strikingly in the
threat of incest (205). Once Pericles figures out
King Antiochus riddle, he knows that they are engaged in an incestuous relationship and he wants
no part of it. All of the suitors who have attempted
to figure out the riddle and thus win King Antiochus daughter have died in the process and it
seems to reinforce the fact that incest is a form of
enclosure. Because King Antiochus has had such

The Best of ESU 21

a relationship with his daughter he has ruined
her virtue and so it cannot be given to another,
therefore she is closed off from succession. I find
it interesting that during this relationship King
Antiochus daughter has never become pregnant,
which, again, reinforces the idea of enclosure.
Sometime after Pericles escapes from King Antiochus we hear of the collapse of his kingdom, and
he and his daughter are put to death for their misbehavings. King Simonides seems to be lacking a
queen as well but seems knowledgeable enough to
know not to have such a relationship with Thaisa.
He instead shows his affections by holding events
in her honor and by continually testing potential
suitors for her, which opens her up to the possibility of motherhood and succession.
The next, seemingly obvious enclosure is in the
womb of Thaisa, literally where the manifestation
of her and Pericles love is taking place. She then
opens herself up to let the lines of succession come
forth but is afterwards enclosed in what is supposed to be her tomb. We see Thaisa go through
many forms of being open and enclosed, but
enclosed in a different way than King Antiochus
daughter. Marina is partially enclosed for a short
period of time in the brothel; she is held there
against her will and is continually threatened.
Later it becomes evident that Pericles has learned
from the examples set by both King Antiochus
and King Simonides when he first is reunited with
Marina. It is before he knows that she is his daughter that he has a lingering moment of attraction
towards her: Falseness cannot come from thee,
for thou lookst modest as justice, and thou seemst
a palace for the crowned truth to dwell in... Thou
showst like one I loved indeed (21.108-113).
It is during this conversation that Pericles realizes
who he is talking to and is thus reunited with his
family. First being reunited with Marina, and then
in a dream Diana (Artemis) comes to him and tells
him to go to her temple, which he does. The pair is
then reunited with Thaisa which would also bring
her back into her original family unit (assuming
her father is still alive). With the family restored,

particularly the fact that Marina has returned (she

being the heir to her fathers throne), the lands of
Tyre and Pentapolis are also restored.
Seeing that an heir to the throne is usually a top
priority for a king, it is interesting that in all the
years that Pericles thought Thaisa was dead (and
then after a while he thought that Marina was dead
as well) he did not try to remarry to procreate and
start a new family. Skura also notes that:
Another way Shakespeare portrays the family influence is by symbolic reenactments of the original
family situations, so that a character leaves home
and comes to a new world [Pericles does this during the first part of the play], seemingly to a new
family, but we can see that he is also simultaneously working out his relationships to his old family
as he tries out a new one [like Pericles not cutting
his hair since Thaisa died and he gave Marina up
to others to be raised, his new family being the
lords of his court, but otherwise solitary]. We can
neither reduce his current to his past experience,
nor can we ignore his past. (207).
Thaisa is overjoyed to be reunited with her family and with her daughter especially, having never
seen her before. After this short reunion, Thaisa
has to part with Marina, who becomes engaged
to one of the men who came to her in the brothel.
This play seems to end well with a family reunited
with a great sense of appreciation for one another,
with the promise of an heir to Pericles throne and
the promise of another cycle of succession and
motherhood.

The Best of ESU 22

Works Cited
Powell, Barry B. Classical Myth. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. Book.
Shakespeare. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Vol. 2: Later Plays. New York,

NY: W. W. Norton & Company, n.d. Book.
Ferington, Esther. Shakespeares Unruly Women. Folger Shakespeare Library. 1997. Web. 18 April 2013.
Skura, Meredith. Interpreting Posthumus Dream from Above and Below; Families, Psychoanalysts,

and Literary Critics. Representing Shakespeare. Ed. Coppelia Kahn Murray M. Schwartz. Balti

more: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980. 203-215.

The Best of ESU 23

Tasha Messer
Junior
EG 310
Dr. Cynthia Patton
Fall 2013

Feminist Analysis: A History of Patriarchy

and Covert Rebellion in The Tempest

Feminist analysis of literature is

Shakespeares The Tempest does not obviously lend itself to feminist analysis because Miextremely important if we ever intend to change
randa is the only female character present in the
existing social systems to reflect womens ways of
knowing and being (Hall 200). While this method play. Sycorax is mentioned but is simply a story.
Failing to see the social power structures based
of analysis directly deals with social power strucupon gender in this play simply because of a lack
tures and patriarchy, there are several different
of female characters is very telling of how a history
paths critics go down to explain gender issues in
of patriarchy has blinded society into not taking
literature, such as essentialism, materialism, and
post-structuralism. Critics are concerned with the women seriously, a pattern so deeply ingrained
that it can seem natural, like mere truth (Parker
likeness and differences of men and women, how
149). This play was probably written sometime in
class, race, and sexuality affect gender relations,
1610 and, like many of Shakespeares other plays, is
and how the language of a text manifests power.
still completely relevant in our world today (1597).
Literature is viewed as thoroughly social by
A critical analysis of the present and absent female
feminist and that is why they believe that critiqucharacters, the language, and the class structure
ing texts can help bring about significant social
in act one, scene two of The Tempest reflect the
change (200).
patriarchal interests throughout much of history

When studying a text, it is important to
and the resistance by woman against this oppresremember three key principles as well as a few
sion that can be found simultaneously in this litersupporting principles. The first key principle is
ary text (Hall 202).
that patriarchal oppression of women throughout

Firstly, Miranda is subordinated by her
history has been wide-spread in many different
father, Prospero, for the entirety of her life upon
forms. This effects how women express themthe Island. In the beginning of act one, scene two,
selves and the quality of their daily lives (202).
Prospero tells Miranda that she is ignorant of her
Even though women have been subservient and
own and his identity. He has held power over her
controlled by a patriarchal power structure, they
have rebelled against this power in their own ways. by not telling her anything about their pasts and
raising her by his own ideas of a perfect woman,
This is the second important principle. The final
chaste and obedient. Her mother is briefly menkey principle is that the first two principles are
evident in literary works throughout all of history. tioned at the beginning of the scene, but was absent through all of Mirandas life. It can be drawn
There are several supporting principles that one
that Miranda is only a good woman because she
can take depending on her belief system and unwas raised solely by a man. This is contrasted later
derstanding of the history of patriarchy and what
in the relationship of Sycorax and Caliban. While
is responsible for upholding it.

The Best of ESU 24

Prospero continues to tell Miranda of his history
and how they came to the island, she falls asleep,
perhaps due to his own magic, yet another power
he holds over her.
Here enters Ariel, a small spirit that is also subject
to the power of Prospero. Ariel is never considered
male or female, even though he is referred to as
he throughout the play. While Ariel is an interesting gender study, he mostly adds to the class
structure in this scene, calling to Prospero, All
hail, great master, grave sir, hail. I come to answer
thy best pleasure. Bet to fly, to swim, to dive into
the fire, to ride on the curled clouds, to thy strong
bidding task Arial and all his quality (lines 190194). Ariels role in the scene reveals that gender
issues cannot act alone in resistance to patriarchy.
It is also important to question the class system,
which is a form of materialist feminism. When
Ariel reminds Prospero of a former promise, he is
quickly put back into his place when Prospero tells
him If thou more murmurst, I will rend an oak,
and peg thee in his knotty entrails till thou hast
howled away twelve winters (lines 295-298).

In this interaction between Ariel and Prospero, another female character is introduced, Sycorax. Prospero uses several phrases and words to
describe Sycorax, such as a foul witch with age
and envy, a damned witch for mischiefs manifold
and sorceries terrible, and a blue-eyed hag (lines
259-271). This language and word choice quickly
has the reader believing that this woman is bad
and evil so Prospero can be seen as good and well
doing.

In just a few lines later, we learn of another
character on the island and get our second view
of motherhood. Sycorax litter(ed) here a freckled whelp, hag-born-not honoured with a human shape (284-286). Both mother figures are
absent in the play and the reader and characters
only know of them what Prospero chooses to tell
of them. We can only conclude that Miranda was
raised by a man and is, therefore, chaste, obedient,
and pretty, while Caliban was raised by a woman
and is, therefore, a foul mouthed, servant that is

not completely human. The idea of motherhood in

these examples suggest that a foundational component of patriarchy is a womens ability to carry
a child (Hall 202). Women carry the child but
when it is born, a man should raise it to have the
best qualities, like in the case of Miranda.

Caliban, like Ariel, shows another complexity in the class structure of the play. Because
Caliban was born from Sycorex and looks different, he is Prosperos slave. Prospero calls for him
and alludes to his mother, Thou poisonous slave,
got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam,
come forth! (lines 323-324). Caliban comes to
surface and lays claim to the island because it once
belonged to his mother. The theme of righteous
heirs is common in all Shakespeares works, but it
is particularly interesting here because Caliban, a
male, is laying claim to a land that once belonged
to his mother, a female, while a male is currently
the power figure on the island. This suggest that
Sycorax once was in a power position and helps
the reader to compare her to Prospero. It makes
sense that Prospero would want to paint Sycorax
in a bad light in order to make himself appear
to be the better, more superior ruler. Part of this
strategy would be to assert to a patriarchal history
and lay claim that men are good while women are
evil, which he has done through his language in
describing Sycorax.

During this same conversation, it is revealed that Caliban once tried to rape Miranda
when Prospero says, I have used thee, filth as thou
art, with human care, and lodged thee in mine
own cell, till thou didst seek to violate the honour
of my child (lines 348-351). While Caliban is
obviously below Miranda in the power structure
on the island, he still attempted to take advantage
of her because she is a women, upholding another
possibility of the foundations of patriarchy in
which women have a smaller stature than men and
can be dominated physically (Hall 202). In this
instance, Caliban has also objectified Miranda in
saying that he only wished to rape her in order to
peopled else this isle with Calibans

The Best of ESU 25

(lines 353-354). Miranda is being used here for her
reproductive abilities alone and is dehumanized. It
is important to see how Miranda responds to this,
because it shows the effects of the dehumanization
on her self-perception.

She responds by telling Caliban that she
labored to teach him to speak their language because she felt bad for him, yet he tried to cross her
and use her. In her reply, we can see the effects of
her fathers patriarchal upbringing, when she says
Caliban is of a vile race, implying he has an ugly
hereditary nature (line 361). This line shows that
Prospero has been successful in teaching Miranda
that Sycorax was evil. Because Sycorax stands for
women, it shows Miranda has bought into the
patriarchal system she is a part of.

We begin to see the second principle of
feminist analysis in this same speech to Caliban.
Miranda reveals that she took on the role of a
teacher with him because she pitied him. Teaching
Caliban to speak their language was Mirandas own
way of resisting and subverting her patriarchal
oppression. Even though women are sometimes
defined solely as mothers, wives, governesses, and/
or teachers, women have found ways of influencing social structures in complex and often covert
ways (Hall 203). By teaching Caliban language,
Miranda humanized him slightly more than before and changed his status in the social structure.
While he was still at the bottom, he was able to
curse and argue with Prospero. She does so covertly by saying she felt pity for him. It is interesting
to note that she has humanized Caliban slightly
by teaching him, when, earlier, he dehumanized
her by attempting to rape her for offspring. Miranda exercises more power and challenges norms
throughout the play, for example, when she carries
wood or proposes marriage.

In one scene of a Shakespeare play, I have
been able to pull out many examples of a combination of patriarchal oppression and womens
resistance to it (Hall 204). Through these textual
details, the patriarchal attitude toward women
during 1610 is evident. However, the gender and

class issues of The Tempest are still relevant today,

400 years later. This shows how widespread and
prevalent patriarchy is in our society and that we
still have a long, long ways to go for equality.

Works Cited
Hall, D. E. Literary and Cultural Theory, From

Basic Principles to Advanced Applications.

Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin

College Div, 2001. Print.
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature:

Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural
Studies. 2nd Edition. New York and UP,

2011. Print. Oxford: Oxford.
Shakespeare, William , Stephen Greenblatt, et al.

Norton Shakespeare, Essential Plays/Sonnets.

The Tempest. 2nd Edition. New York: W W

Norton & Co Inc, 2009. Print.

The Best of ESU 26

Andrew Moos
Senior
EG310 ZA
Dr. Cynthia Patton
Fall 2013

The Mind of Childe Roland

The human mind, much like an iceberg

in the water, is something that presents to us far

less than it actually contains. Just as only the very
tip of the iceberg is visible to our naked eye, so are
only the smallest most insignificant aspects of the
human mind so readily apparent. This metaphor
for the depth of the mind is an observation that
was expressed by the praised yet often criticized
Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that, similar to
how the water hides the vastest part of the iceberg,
so does our limited ability to objectively perceive
our own thoughts hide what Freud labeled as the
unconscious. The unconscious is our innermost
feelings, fears, and desires that even to the possessor are unknown. These feelings (often the product
of complex issues) cause us to modify our behavior or make the choices that we do (McLeod). The
following psychoanalytical analysis will attempt to
delve into the mind of the character Roland, from
Robert Brownings poemChilde Roland to the
Dark Tower Came in order to examine both his
unconscious as well as the nature of his archetype,
so that we may decipher this complex wasteland
of symbols to know these feelings that are trapped
within his unconscious. Most importantly, Rolands dark tower will be shown to represent death
and therefore the end of his journey; however how
this end is reached is through a mix of apathy and
grief brought on by his unconscious desires for his
own death.

Freud would undoubtedly find interesting
Robert Brownings claim that the poem Childe
Roland to the Dark Tower Came was entirely the
result of a dream of Brownings (Browning 1266).
For Freud believed that one of the primary ways in

which we are able to understand the unconscious

was through the interpretation and viewing of our
dreams (McLeod). In fact, according to Freud,
The unconscious is the true psychical reality; in
its innermost nature it is as much unknown to
us as the reality of the external world, and it is as
incompletely presented by the data of consciousness as is the external world by the communications of our sense organs. (Freud Museum) This
act of analyzing dreams, or in this case the literary
text that was the result of a dream, is one of the
clearest ways in which we can view the unconscious and therefore get to know the on a deeper
level the characters. For example in the poem
we see Roland distrust another person upon first
meeting them; My first thought was, he lied in
every word, / That hoary cripple, with malicious
eye.. (Browning 1-2). Without the proper context
this gut reaction would provide us with nothing,
but when listening to his unconscious we see that
this act demonstrates his learned lack of trust and
cynicism and from there we may proceed to understand the root cause of it. While this approach
may seem a bit unorthodox or even at times rather
inaccurate, it is important to remember that with
psychoanalytic criticism there is never any one
theory that fully defines the human psychology
(Hall 110).

As an examiner of Rolands mind easily
the most important question we can ask ourselves
about this work by Browning is; what is the dark
tower? The tower is obviously the final destination
of Rolands journey, but also what does it signify to
our main character? Well first let us examine the
very connotation of a dark tower. Dark, the

The Best of ESU 27

adjective used to describe this particular place is
a rather sinister one. Typically when almost any
culture thinks of darkness or the color black, it
signifies something either evil, frightful, or even
sometimes death. Then we have the word tower, a
rather phallic symbol that represents masculinity
and power. So we have essentially a very powerful and dark symbol that perhaps concludes with
the end/death of whoever pursues it. To Roland,
however, although this tower to him represents
an end, it is not necessarily an end for him, but an
end to all the madness that surrounds him. His
conscious mind knows that the tower is a powerful force that can end his suffering, however what
his unconscious mind knows is that this will result
in his death, What with my search drawn out
through years, my hope / Dwindled into a ghost
not fit to cope / My heart made, finding failure
in its scope. (Browning 20-21, 24) This confusion results in his mind manipulating his actions
and thoughts to try and satisfy his unconscious
desires in his pursuit of the tower. However this
pursuit of Rolands places him into somewhat of
a conundrum. The dark tower that looms over
Roland throughout his journey is always at the
forefront of his mind; yet Rolands search is all in
vain, for the undertaking of actively searching for
the dark tower is itself a paradox. The dark tower is
the physical representation of death in the unconscious of Roland, however death itself is something that cannot be found by physically looking
for it. The only way in which one would find the
dark tower is therefore by giving up their search,
and surrendering to the inevitable force. This act
of submission on Rolands part, brought on by his
unconscious, is seen especially in stanza 29.

Yet half I seemed to recognize some
trick

Of mischief happened to me, God
knows when
In a bad dream perhaps. Here ended,
then
Progress this way. When, in the very
nick

Of giving up, one time more, came a
click

As when a trap shuts-youre inside

the den! (Browning 169-174)
He on some level knows he is walking into his
doom, he recognizes the trap that has been laid before him, yet he still walks on. He resigns himself
to whatever fate the dark tower may have in store
for him by blindly walking into its trap, therefore
relinquishing all responsibility for himself, and
submitting to the tower.

Now in terms of Rolands id, ego, and superego one must wonder; why does Roland choose
this tower or rather any physical manifestation of
death to pursue? Abstract concepts such as death,
hope, life, or love can be very difficult to understand and even more so to then fight against or for.
To compensate for this Roland chooses to take the
force of death and mold it into something that he
can actually pursue. The dark tower that Roland
sees does not exist in the realm of the physical. By
turning it into a physical entity he is also unconsciously allowing himself to associate the limits
of physicality on it as well. This is similar to what
is known in psychology as the secondary process.
In this process the ego attempts to keep the id
in check by equating a physical object or mental
image with the desired feelings (Cherry). Roland
wants to find death, so his mind associates it with
something physical that can be found. Death itself
cannot be killed, stopped, or defied; however an
object such as a tower can be toppled or overcome
in many a number of ways. Think first, fight
afterwards-the soldiers art(Browning 89). This
belief of Rolands is what causes this association
between death, and the tower; his mind transforms death into something that, in accordance
with his code as a soldier, he is able to fight. Also
furthering his delusion, unconsciously his id is at
work here giving himself and his ids instinctive
will to survive the hope that some other end may
be possible.

Similar to how the secondary process with
his tower association helps him in his pursuits, it

The Best of ESU 28

also allows him to grieve more easily. The reader
can see that Roland has gone through many
struggles in this journey, he has lost many friends
such as Cuthbert to the dark tower/force of death.
Acceptance of the death of a loved one is something that can take many years, if ever, to achieve.
It is much easier for Rolands mind to handle this
loss if he can blame it on something real, or something with a physical presence. We see this in real
life often when dealing with death: the departeds
loved ones will blame themselves, the doctors,
or the deceased themselves because it is so much
easier to believe that it is someones fault than it
is to believe that it is nobodys. Roland besides
just struggling to understand his own mortality is trying to comprehend that of his friends as
well. Roland for much of his journey fantasizes
about his former life with his friends, preferring
to live there instead of in the moment. He thinks
back over his friends deaths and his feet continue
along this journey in memory of their sacrifices.
These sacrifices of his friends are something that
Roland doesnt fully comprehend anymore as he
has grown bitter in their absence. Not it! I fancied
Cuthberts reddening face / Beneath its garniture
of curly gold,... / Alas, one nights disgrace! / Out
went my hearts new fire and left it cold. (Browning 91-92, 95-96) His heart is not in the task currently at hand, he has no passion for this search
anymore. He then reminisces over his comrades
Giles and Frank, Giles then, the soul of honor
- there he stands / Frank as ten years ago when
knighted first. (Browning 97-98) Roland only
desires an end to the journey, he sees his friends
deaths as a waste, yet it is for them that he continues. Roland suffers from the guilt of knowing that
he is the last of his group. Survivors guilt as some
would call it very much plagues the conscience of
Roland throughout his journey as he ponders on
why he is the only one of the group that remains.
He cannot fathom this as he views himself as being
unfit when compared to his deceased counterparts, The knights who to the Dark Towers search
addressed / Their steps-that just to fail as they,

seemed best, / And all the doubt was now-should

I be fit? (Browning 1267) It is from this guilt that
his reluctant obsession with the tower is born; he
feels as though he must carry the torch that his
friends passed along to him lest he dishonor their
memory by not living up to their example. This
would explain why someone such as Roland would
say such apathetic statements like, My heart
made, finding failure in its scope. (Browning 24),
while still continuing on in his quest to find the
tower.
By stanza 34 Roland has finally transitioned from
the realm of the physical and into the realm of the
spiritual due to his encounter with the dark tower;
this passage is especially noticeable due to the
sudden appearance of his friends. He sees those
who fell alongside the path to reach the tower long
before he did, and he feels that sense of loneliness beginning to fade as he finally reached his
own end. But very interesting is Rolands reaction
and the phrasing of the events that follow. While
standing in the ominous shadow of the tower his
final lines of the poem are, Dauntless the slughorn to my lips I set, / And blew. Childe Roland
to the Dark Tower came. (Browning 203-204) In
the mind of Roland he is acting out of some kind
noble defiance towards the tower, or perhaps he is
even gloating in his accomplishment of reaching
the dark tower. His reasoning is that by acting in
this way he wants himself to believe that this was
his choice. He needs his superego (the force that
guides his morality and societal values) to think
that he is standing there in defiance of death, that
he came only to the tower to fulfill his quest, when
he really came to die. This is all further complicated by the fantasy Rolands id and superego are
acting out in his mind. It is only instinctual for
creatures to be afraid of and therefore avoid death
(the id), but his own mind is trying to approach
the subject on his own terms by denying why he
came to this place (the superego).
The choices that Roland makes, or rather his lack
of a choice along his journey, speaks to how apathetic he as a person has become. This apathy

The Best of ESU 29

stems from his unconscious desire to be free of
all responsibilities, this desire of his is demonstrated in Rolands admittance of how helps he
sees himself, It nothing skills: I cannot help my
case; / Tis the Last Judgments fire must cure
this place / Calcine its clods and set my prisoners free. (Browning 64-66) By allowing others, or
and external force, to make choices for him in his
mind he is willingly relinquishing all control and
therefore responsibility for his actions. He feels as
though he is a prisoner of these expectations that
have been place upon him. He views himself as being too inexperienced, and too unable to complete
this task that has been placed before him. He feels
weak and exhausted as, I had so long suffered in
this quest, (37). For Roland there is no glory in
what he seeks, only pain and sadness. His heart
and will has grown weak with time and loneliness,
and he sees nothing but more sadness waits in his
continuing path.

Throughout the poem he mentions several
times his desire for an end to come to everything.
He reflects on his now presumably deceased
friends and seems eager to find any end to cure his
loneliness. Therefore what must be discerned is
exactly how deep-seated this desire for an end to
his journey really is. All throughout this nightmarish landscape Roland declares his lack of enthusiasm for the task at hand. Indeed it seems that in
several instances he falls barely just short of openly
wishing for some external force to put an end to
his journey right then and there, but notice the
thoughts that come to Roland along this journey.

As when a sick man very near to
death

Seems dead indeed, and feels begin
and end

The tears and takes the farewell of
each friend,

And hears one bid the other go,
draw breath

Freelier outside (since all is oer, he
saith,

And the blow fallen no grieving can

ammend. (Browning 25-30)
The very last line of this stanza directly shows Rolands apathy for the task, in a manner that Freud
would call Pre-Consciously. Roland wishes that
something would result in his inability to continue
and he seems to be on some level slightly aware
of this desire, as in the above quote he envies the
freedom that the dying feel. However this something must be entirely outside of his control so that
he can convince his own mind that he did all he
could in his search for the tower; so that, as mentioned before, he doesnt dishonor the sacrifices of
his friends, and he may hopefully manage to live
up to their example. For in the stanza following
the previous he expresses his desires to not overstay his abilities and end up shaming himself, And
still the man hears all, and only craves / He may
not shame such tender love and stay (35-36). It is
only his most basic survival instincts (the id) that
keep him pushing forward. So while his mind is
telling him preconsciously to look for a way out,
due to the archetypal heroic nature of his character
he is unable to do that until he feels he has fulfilled
the requirements of being a hero. In classic romantic literature the hero does not simply give up and
quit when the task at hand becomes overwhelmingly difficult, rather the hero either overcomes or
dies trying. As evidenced by the aforementioned
stanzas Roland has decided preconsciously that
this is a battle that he wont win. Therefore he
is only waiting for the right opportunity for the
heros death to present itself so that he may take
advantage of the moment.

One pertinent and oftentimes fundamental principle of Freudian Psychology that we have
yet to approach the mind of Roland with is, that
oftentimes traumatic events that take place during
childhood can have long lasting effects throughout
the persons life. Now this is difficult because Roland is obviously not a child anymore in the physical sense or with regards to his actual age, and the
poem does not offer us many hints into traumatic
events that may or may not have taken place during his developing years. However,

The Best of ESU 30

equally important in psychology is how Roland
thinks of himself and interestingly enough, Roland
still identifies himself as being a child. Once again
his final line is, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower
came. (Browning 204) Childe, an archaic word
that meant a youth of noble birth would indicate
that to Roland he still has not achieved his status
of manhood (Oxford). Before he arrived at the
tower, Roland sees himself as being weak and inexperienced in the world. Just as a naive child fears
the unknown, so does Roland feel ill prepared and
unable to accept the reality around him. It isnt until he reaches the tower that he finally passes a key
point in his development. This stage is most likely
identifiable as satisfying the requirements of the
latent period in Freudian terminology. This particular stage is especially associated with developing
social interactions and self-confidence. These traits
are fundamental; however, before Roland proudly
announces his arrival at the tower, he seems to be
severely lacking in these two key areas (Latent Period). This inability to interact socially would explain his abrupt and distrustful behavior towards
the one actual person he meets at the outset of the
poem, as would his lack of self-confidence explain
his apathetic desires for an end to come before he
begins to embarrass himself.

The theories of Sigmund Freud bring to the
surface some interesting perspectives on Roland
and his journey, but Freud is not the only figure
in psychoanalytic criticism whom we can utilize
for this critique. Equally an important figure in
the field of psychoanalytic analysis is Carl Jung.
Jung theorized that archetypes are representatives of people, including their personalities and
behaviors. When applied to a literary sense, many
characters fit within a handful of different archetypes e.g. the hero, the maiden, the trickster, etc.
Jung believed that this collection of archetypes was
more than just a pattern of stereotyping, it was a
collection of unlearned beliefs that each and every
person regardless of culture, shares. He argued
that this system of archetypes comes from the collective unconscious of the people. This theory was

actually an offshoot of his research into Freuds

theory of the unconscious (Snider).

As previously mentioned, due to his need
to fulfill a quest as well as his need to transcend
from childhood to adulthood, it is obvious that
Browning intends to present Roland as a variation
on the hero archetype. He (at least initially) seems
to display all of the necessary qualifications that
would match his character to those heroes seen
in works of the romantic period. Even though it
may not be for the usual reasons, Roland shows
these qualifications through his goal to at least
reluctantly continue in his quest as he struggles to
overcome a land of corruption and a rather sinister
appearance. The variation in his character comes
from the more realistic psychology that his character possesses. Roland is full of self-doubt as well as
pity. Part of this stems though from the aforementioned fact that Roland is a childe; he is someone
that views himself as being untested, or currently
unable to live up to the standards set by those such
as Cuthbert, and Giles. So just as he partakes in
a physical journey, he also journeys inwardly in
order to pass a set of challenges that society has set
in front of him before he can mature.

Archetypes can be used to analyze not only
the characters, but also many other elements of
the narrative. Therefore similar to how Jung would
have analyzed the character of Roland and found
him to be comparable to one of his archetypes, so
would he look at the physical journey of Roland
through this wasteland through the same perspective of archetypes. In many cultures literary characters (particularly those of the hero archetype)
must go on a long journey in order to realize their
full potential. Along these journeys the hero would
face many trials and tribulations and while not as
obvious as in many other tales our hero Roland
does as well. Most of these trials are inward troubles as he struggles to overcome his overwhelming feelings of despair, however there are a few
instances such as his encounter with the cripple
at the beginning, as well as his encounter with the
creature at the river that are more traditional

The Best of ESU 31

steps one would take in a heros journey. However
what is even more archetypal about this journey
of Rolands is how representative it is of a journey
through life. At its most basic element, the journey
in the poem represents the standard set of challenges that all must overcome before their journey
ends with death, i.e. the dark tower. The poem in
this sense is about a persons transition through
life, (represented by an actual physical journey)
as well as the struggles that accompany this journey such as the death of loved ones. The desire to
complete your journey on your own terms such
as Roland attempts and overcome a force such as
death itself is something that can be shared across
all cultures.

So what do the use of these archetypes suggest about the work as a whole? The story of Roland is the tale of the tired hero. Every culture has
heroes in their mediums of entertainment; however in reality these heroes cannot exist so perfectly as the archetype would seem to suggest. Just
as normal folk these heroes are able to feel things
such as grief, depression, weariness, and a sense of
apathy. Brownings character is one of a complex
psychology that builds upon and then surpasses
the culturally standard archetypes of Jung in order
to subvert these cultures norms. What this speaks
of the creation of Roland is that this character of
his is built on the idea that heroes can and oftentimes in reality fail due to their shortcomings.
Instead of simply adhering to the rigid structure of
the hero archetype, Rolands psychological inconsistencies allow him to maintain all of the physical
and obvious traits of his type, while simultaneously contrasting those traits with his mental wellbeing. It is in our nature to idolize and fantasize
about these archetypal heroes as always conquering over all, but when the opposition is something
that cannot be conquered then our faith is shaken.
When the hero is presented as being someone who
seemingly has all the requirements, the quest, the
long journey, the solitary figure, it contrasts with
our preconceived notions learned from our collective unconscious. We cannot understand why he

would choose to give up his journey, and why he

would choose this apathetic approach instead of
his intended archetypal role.
Just as mankind battles with the futility of trying
to deny an unstoppable force of nature like death,
so does Roland discover the fallacy of trying to
deny the dark tower. Throughout his monologue
he slowly, although not entirely, discovers his
folly by allowing this undeniable truth to proceed
through the stages of his unconscious. However
ultimately no matter how hard his id works to
keep his unconscious desires at bay, his end is inevitable. Any act of defiance or denial of this statement is simply the result of his most primal instincts trying to keep his body moving for just one
more moment along his journey. Roland had been
fighting against this dark tower for so long that
he has grown to be mentally weak. Even though
as the archetypal hero he is physically strong and
prepared in his intentions to overcome, mentally
he is weary and unable to fight this impossible
battle against his own mortality. He, just as most
who are finally able to cope with their own mortality, seeks a noble end befitting of his archetypical
role as the hero. When the pursuit of death is the
end goal the only thing that matters is how you
arrive there. Though Roland desires for the end, he
needs to end it on terms that satisfy his id, ego and
superego.

The Best of ESU 32

Works Cited
Browning, Robert. Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. The Norton Anthology English Literature.

8th ed. New York: Norton , 2006. 1266-1271. Print.
Cherry, Kendra. What is the Secondary Process?. About.com Psychology. n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
<http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/def_secondarypr.htm>.
---. The Latent Period of Psychosexual Developement. About.com Psychology. n. page. Web. 19 Nov.

2013. <http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/psychosexualdev_5.htm>.
Childe. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 19 November 2013. <http://www.
oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/Childe>.
Collective Unconscious . Carl Jung (2013): n.pag. Web. 19 Nov 2013. <http://www.carl-jung.net/collec
tive_unconscious.html>.
Hall, Donald E. Literary and Cultural Theory. 1st ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. 110.
Print.
Interpretation of Dreams. Freud Museum London n.pag. Web. 19 Nov 2013. <http://www.freud.org.
uk/education/topic/10576/interpretation-of-dreams/>.
McLeod, S. A. (2009). Unconscious Mind - Sigmund Freud - Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://
www.simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html
Snider, Clifton. A Brief Outline of Jungian Psychology with some Archetypal Images, Themes, and

Symbols. (2009): n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://www.csulb.edu/~csnider/jungian.outline.
html>.

The Best of ESU 33

Mohamed Moustafa
Freshman
EG 101 M
Sabina Huseynova
Fall 2013

Searching for Alien Life

Ever since humans invented the telescope

must be a scientific motive behind it. In fact, there

and started gazing into the boundless skies, know- is great deal of scientific and mathematical reasoning that there is more to the universe than a flour- ing in support of its existence. Taking probability
ishing blue marble called Earth, the same question into consideration; There are more stars in the
has remained unansweredare we alone in the
universe than all the grains of sand on every beach
universe? If this question was answered definitely, on earth (Through the Wormhole). This is very
it would forever change our view of the universe
hard to get your mind around, the Milky Way
and life in general. Although scientific facts indiour own galaxyalone has over 100 billion plancate that extraterrestrial life is highly probable, and ets (Moyer). That is a 1 followed by 11 zeros. So
great efforts are spent in search for it, substantial
you can conclude that the existence of earth-like
proof of its existence is yet to be found.
planetsplanets that offer the same components

Life has a way of being obviousit literally necessary for earthly lifeis highly probable.
scampers by, or growls, or curls up on the winEven if it wasnt, life here on earth was observed to
dowsilland yet its notoriously difficult to define thrive in extreme conditions such as above boiling
in absolute terms. (Achenbach). Perhaps the most and below freezing temperatures of water, and in
fundamental issue on extraterrestrial life is definhighly acidic or alkaline environments (Through
ing the term life itself. If we were to claim that
the Wormhole). So its not outrageous to claim that
there is life out there, how similar does it have be
somewhere in this vast universe life is bristling in
to terrestrial life in order for us to call it life at all? its simplest forms, or even intelligent beings are
Humans tend to portray aliens in movies as these
looking for us as well.
technologically advanced creaturesno wonder

The search for extraterrestrial life has
they travelled light years to earththat bizarrely
grown as an issue of concern for many organizashare a lot of bodily features as humans. 2 legs, 2
tions, governmental and independent. One of
arms, eyes, mouth, maybe an oversized head or a
the most remarkable projects is NASAs Kepler.
tail to make them fairly dissimilar. But that is all
Launched in 2009, Kepler is a spacecraft whose
nonsense, we have no clue what extraterrestrial life main mission is scanning our galaxy for star-orbitmight look like, or how intelligent it might be. The ing planets to help estimate their total within our
only certain characteristic of extraterrestrial life is galaxy. It also looks specifically for planets lying
that it doesnt originate from earth.
in the habitable zone, the orbit zone around a star

But why are we spending so much time
at which a planet would be able to support liquid
and effort looking for something that is so conwater on its surface. So far, Kepler has detected
ceptual? Humans are curious, and if the question
over 3,000 earth-like planets including more than
of extraterrestrial life is answered, it would take
130 confirmed (Nally). Kepler has proved to be a
us great steps into the truth of existence. But still
success and paved the way for upcoming search
this search cannot be just built on curiosity, there
missions. One of the most famous organizations is

the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

institute. Utilizing an array of telescopes and some
of the greatest scientific minds of our time, SETI
has been working on answering the questions on
extraterrestrial life since 1984. One of its ongoing projects, setiQuest, aims to educate the public
about extraterrestrial life and help raise the next
generation of curious minds to keep the ultimate
search going. Optical SETI, is another one which
scans the skies for electromagnetic radiation that
may be emitted by a technological civilization
such as ourselves. So far, hints of abnormal data
has made SETI scientists fumble around, but none
has ever been certainly confirmed to belong to an
extraterrestrial civilization. (http://seti.org).

One of the most remarkable astronomers,
Carl Sagan, put forth an estimate of a million
technological civilizations in the Milky Way alone.
More humble estimates put it at 10,000 civilizations (Achenbach). But where is everybody? This
phenomenon is known as Fermis Paradox, how we
have overwhelming reasons to believe in the existence of extraterrestrials, yet, we have never made
contact with them. Our universe is really old, more
than 13 billion years old, and humans have existed
for merely less than 0.0001% of that time. Nevertheless, our technological advancements enable us
to send spacecraft to the edge of the solar system.
So you can imagine if there was an extraterrestrial
civilization that had existed for a mere fraction
of the universes life, they would have advanced
technologically enough to span galaxies and found
Earth, they would already be here. But maybe
they are. One of the proposed solutions to Fermis
Paradox is that we are in fact a result of alien life;
that we are aliens. We are one of their strategically
placed seeds that achieve their ultimate mission;
spreading sporadically through the universe to
save life from obliteration (Webb).

But then extraterrestrials would be our
ancestors who put faith in us to keep the mission
going, and they should be proud. We are slowly
turning into them. We are launching space missions that are bolder than ever; landing on nearby

The Best of ESU 34

planets and satellites. We are looking deep into

space for new habitats. We are being aliens to other worlds. But the question remains: will we ever
find other sentient beings? Only time will tell. We
only need to make sure that we remember what
Martin Reesrenowned cosmologistonce said;
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Works Cited
Achenbach, Joel. Life Beyond Earth. National
Geographic. Web. 20 Sep. 2013. <http://sci
ence.nationalgeographic.com/science/
space/solar-system/life-beyond-earth/>
Are we alone? Through the Wormhole. Narr.

Morgan Freeman. Discovery Science

Channel. 14 Jul. 2010. Television.
Moyer, Michael. Earth-Like Planets Fill the
Galaxy. Scientific American. Web. 18 Jan.

2013. <http://science.nationalgeographic.
com/science/space/solar-system/life-be
yond-earth/>
Nally, Jonathan. Blinded Kepler: all is not lost.

Cosmos Magazine. 3 Sep. 2013. Web. 1 Oct.

2013. <http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/
features/blinded-kepler-all-is-not-lost/>
Webb, Stephen. If the Universe Is Teeming with

Aliens ... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?: Fifty

Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the

Problem of Extraterrestrial Life. New York:

Copernicus Books, 2002. Print.

The Best of ESU 35

Sarah Moyer
Freshman
EG 101 ZA
Jessica Madinger
Fall 2013

Boots and Chaps for Cowboy Hats

Since the days of the Old West, the American cowboys spirit has been alive across the Midwest. Values like strong work ethic and not quitting until the job is done have been instilled in the
people who live out the modern variation of the
western lifestyle today. Nestled between the feed
yards of rural north Lyon County is a small business submerged in the culture of the area. Its quality products speak for themselves.

Rolling up to the shop, the exterior appearance does not make a lasting impression. A passerby would not even notice it was there if not for the
small sign attached to the pipe fence surrounding
the grounds where the owner and his wife live. Located in the heart of the Flint Hills, Orear Cowboy
Gear and Boot Repair specializes, just as the name
suggests, in leather boot repair and custom chaps
(Orear).

Its owner and only employee, Tyson Orear,
is a hard-working ranch hand who supplements
his income with running the business. Small businesses like Orear Cowboy Gear and Boot Repair
are not at all uncommon. In an article published
by the U.S. Small Business Administration, former
SBA Administrator Karen Mills wrote, Americas
small businesses create two out of three net new
private sector jobs in our economy. And today
more than half of all working Americans either
own or work for a small business (Mills).

First impressions of the interior space could
include descriptions like a little disorganized or
run down, but it would also likely include another
quality- character. This tiny shop is stationed in a
single car garage connected to the owners home.
Work benches are covered in supplies, materials,

and tools. A machine contraption with rotating

horse hair buffers and blue roughing belts paired
next to red finishing ones is lined atop with boots,
leather stitching necessities like wax thinner, and
more tools. The whole set-up looks complex.

The boot repairs done at the shop are equally as complex. Each pair of boots repaired undergoes a time consuming process of cleaning, tearing
down, measuring for new soles, hand pulling all of
the original stitches, and then, the boots in the pair
are nearly ready to be built back up. One aspect of
the process that does make it so time consuming is
the dry time for leather that has to be soaked to be
molded and flexible before attaching, not to mention any gluing that happens for reinforcement
(Orear). There is no doubt, this is difficult work. It
also coincidentally reflects the struggles of starting
this kind of business.

Before its official opening, the primitive
structure of Orear Cowboy Gear and Boot Repair
began gaining the trust of numerous cowboys as
they saw the products Mr. Orear had produced,
including his very own hand-made chaps he had
dreamt about and created. The first pair was entirely hand stitched. This desire was inspired when
a young man thought he could make a pair of his
own following his folks buying both him and his
brother a pair for Christmas one year. You only
do that once, Mr. Orear stated with that never
again expression written all over his face. After
that experience, the first machine, functioning for
stitchery, was purchased for three hundred dollars.
This investment occurred when Mr. Orear was just
fifteen-years-old. This was rough for a while, just
getting his feet wet and improving his leather

crafting skills. That first machine he invested on

did not even work. Just like with anything, you
get what you pay for. He paid one thousand for
the next. Finally, he accumulated larger, more industrial machines ranging at higher prices (Orear).

They range in age as well. The oldest, manufactured for World War II in 1942, actually came
with an instruction manual that read instructions
on what to do with it if the enemy attacked and the
U.S. was forced to retreat. Mr. Orear recalled from
reading it himself, It said your first option was to
disassemble the machine, then if you didnt have
time for that you were supposed to grab a machete
and chop it up as best you could. There sat a
machine that he bought for three thousand dollars,
and someone could have taken a machete to it.
Who would have known?

The machines show their age, but one look
at the insides, the guts of the machine, and it is
clear the spindles, gears, and rods are ran with
care. As Mr. Orear was willing to admit though,
moneys in the repair work, not the building.
Something fouling up, such as a part being ever so
slightly out of aliment as seemingly small as a rod
within the mechanics of these old machines can
mean dishing out a large chunk of money to get
it fixed. This is because it is hard to find parts and
harder to find someone who knows what they are
doing to correctly resolve any issues. The owner
shared he is especially meticulous about keeping
his machines clean and running well for these reasons.

When discussing the tools required for his
work, Mr. Orear responded, You collect as you
go along. He continued, Better tools of course
produce better quality, and quality is my number
one goal. Thats what Im about. He had quite a
collection all stacked up and spread out near his
work bench. Categorized leather soles of all sizes,
including childrens, neatly lined the shelf below.
Nails were sorted by kind, each having a specific
time and situation to be used: steel for standard
boots, brass for grain elevator workers boots,
wooden for hand built custom boots that came in

The Best of ESU 36

needing soles replaced. Various tools used for both

boot repair and chaps were either scattered on top
or in there respected spots depending on whether
they had been used recently. Bits and pieces of
scrap leather rounded out the scene.

The majority of the work coming in is
currently boot repairs. The chaps are more fun to
work on in the owners opinion, but most of those
types of orders come from locals or occasionally a
friend of a friend. That makes for a limited market on the amount of cowboys wanting what is
often thought of a showmanship piece at rodeos
(Martin). Factors like material costs and overall
demand influence consumers decisions for this.

Surprisingly, beginning the boot repairs
side of the business was not brought about until
later in the businesses development. However,
because of the investments that had been put into
the shop through machines and supplies, the business was expanded to include it between three and
four years ago. The owner partook in an apprenticing role for a couple months at Jim Cowboys Shop
in Emporia about twenty-five miles south of the
Orear Cowboy Gear and Boot Repairs establishment prior to doing the work on his own.

The extra training led to more opportunities for business and luckily, the owner has a
contact who is employed by a major western store
in Wichita. The connection relays boot repair
jobs up his way, and the owner is pleased with the
system they have operating. About eighty percent
[of my business] is I guess what youd say is out of
area (Orear). I was then told during my interview,
when I asked Mr. Orear, about his hours on his repair work: for two years he spent from around six
oclock in the evening to two oclock in the morning just catching up on the work. Then of course,
he was still working his day job and was back
awake by six. Fortunately, now he has a routine
of working in his shop in the morning, and doing
other work the rest of the day. This stands for the
majority of the year, but may vary some during his
busiest times of the year- spring and summer.

The business that began from a little boy

The Best of ESU 37

imagining himself making his own pair of chaps
evolved and grew. Asking Mr. Orear if he would
do it all again, he returned with the thought that
he probably would not have started the business
if he had known what he would be getting into.
It is so difficult to make a profit this way. Despite
the struggles and long hours gone by, he has the
equipment and supplies, and has settled on sticking with it. Orear Cowboy Gear and Boot Repair is
in for the long haul.

Works Cited
Martin, Rebecca. Cool Things - Rodeo Chaps. Kansapedia. Kansas Historical Foundation, Nov. 2010.

Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Mills, Karen, and Tom Vilsack. White House Rural Council Growing Rural Economies, Creating Jobs.

U.S. Small Business Administration. Whitehouse.gov, 19 June 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Orear, Tyson. Personal Interview. 14 Nov. 2013.

The Best of ESU 38

Ray Voiers
Sophomore
PO 335
Dr. Phil Kelly
Spring 2014

The Garment Industry: A Case for Change

One topic that has been throughout the

Associated Press). The average wage for an empress over the last several years is the outsourcing ployee in a garment factory is currently 36 dollars
of garments for U.S. retailers. With Americans
a month, and as in recent events, these also show
wanting to find a better bargain at their local repoor working conditions.
tailer, these corporations look to the cheaper wages The outcry from people and governments from
of foreign countries to capture the market. Recent around the world has pushed the Ministry of
tragedies in Bangladesh has brought this back to
Labor to look into the working conditions of other
the forefront of political and social organizations.
plants. The approach taken in this paper will look
Looking back over the last few years, two major
at standards set by Bangladesh, the factory owners,
garment factories in Bangladesh have had tragic
and the multinational corporations that have their
losses of life for the employees who worked there. products manufactured from the factories (AssociThe first incident occurred in November 2012 at
ated Press). Though this may sound like an approthe Tazreen facility which caught fire and caused
priate approach to insure worker safety, I question
the deaths of 112 workers (Greenhouse). In April whether, many of the owners of the factories or the
of this year the Raza Plaza building collapsed
multinational corporations truly have the worker
which killed over 1,100 employees (Greenhouse).
in mind. The same goes for the standards set by
Between the two facilities, over 1,800 employees
the government, with 80 percent of the export
were injured and even today some remain hospicoming from the garment industry. Why would
talized (Greenhouse). My instant thought when
they change the standards? Too much regulation
hearing about these events was what companies
could result in the multinational company pullare involved in the factories and what will be the
ing out and finding a new source to produce their
public view of them after? It also made me come
goods.
up with a few questions which I looked to have an-
Due to the recent events, the workers are
swered in this paper. What is currently being done starting to rebel in the form of protests and riots
to help those who were injured? What is being
that have spanned over the last several months.
done to help the families who lost loved ones in
This action from the workers has resulted in the
these facilities? Who should be held responsible?
closing of 100 factories and has forced the govAre steps being taken to prevent such tragedies in ernment to change the pay scale (Alam). A panel
Bangladesh in the future?
appointed by the government has increased the

Bangladesh is second in the world in the
wage of the garment factory worker to $66.25 a
export of garments, these mainly going to the
month, an increase of 77% (Alam). Even with the
U.S. and Europe, gaining more than 20 billion a
increase, this is still the lowest minimum wage in
year in revenue (Alam). The garment industry in
the world, and when brought to the workers it was
Bangladesh has nearly four million employees and rejected (Alam, Associated Press). Instead, they
accounts for 80 percent of export income (Alam,
are fighting for a wage of 100 dollars a month, and

The Best of ESU 39

until the panel and workers reach an agreement I
would look towards more riots in the future. Even
if they do reach an agreement, the Ministry of
Labor will still have to approve the resolution. I
find both the conditions of the factories and the
wages to be a serious concern. We in the United
States have safeguards to protect us even in our
lowest paying jobs, and I feel that others should
have that same environment. With that will come
an increase in the cost of the product, of that result
for many of us to go without? Our multinational
companies have only one common goal profit, and
they will raise the cost on the consumer end to
achieve that goal.

A question that is asked: who is responsible for compensating the workers and their
families from the tragedies? Is it up to the owner
of the factory, or the multinational companies
who had product coming from the factory, or the
Bangladesh government that failed to inspect the
buildings? Personally, it should be all three but
currently this is what is happening. European corporations that had products made in the factories
have established themselves as being responsible
for the workers of the factory by continuing to pay
the wages of all employees who worked at the two
plants and, by providing benefits to the families
who lost loved ones (Greenhouse). This has led to
other companies from different countries that had
products produced at the factories to joining in the
effort. What you do not see is the American based
companies joining in to help the effort: Walmart,
Sears, Kmart, Childrens Place, Dress Barn, and
Cato Fashions all, having garments made for them
from the factories (Guilford). While many companies have yet to respond, the few that made statements say that the garments that were produced
were from unauthorized contractors (Guilford,
Greenhouse). Walmart has publicly placed a statement that allows them to walk away from both
factories without compensation to workers and the
families, and it went on to say they had no plans
on doing so (Greenhouse). Others like Childrens
Place and Sears have made similar statements

(Greenhouse). So, why would these companies

deny help to those who were injured or the families of those killed? It would be an admission of
guilt and lend possible legal action.

Even without help from American companies, there is action to create a compensation
fund totaling 70 million dollars to continue to help
those affected by the tragedies (Greenhouse).
This shows how important image is to the American companies and what they are willing to do to
keep customers coming through their doors. As
a consumer we rarely think about what process
goes into making the product we are buying. In
June of 2013 President Barack Obama ended trade
privileges with Bangladesh (PRI). This action
would increase tariffs on products exported from
the country but will not affect the garment industry because it is not included in such tariffs (PRI).
It looks good on paper but has no real change to
those that work in the garment industry. So, what
does this action do? It forces the government of
Bangladesh to change workers rights across the
board if it would like to continue to export in the
U.S.

The recent events that have occurred in
Bangladesh should be included in the actions of
the multinational corporations that are involved.
We have to start to look at the ethical implications
that are involved with a global market. Reactions
from these events call for a new protection for the
worker. If we are to change labor conditions and
wages around the world, every country and multinational corporation needs to be involved. They
must universally agree to the reforms, and until
that occurs changes in the labor work environment
and wages will not happen. The effects of these
changes will result in higher prices for consumer
goods and less throw away products.
These multinational corporations have worked
together in one regard, that being, they continue
to deny any wrong doing with regards to working
conditions, wages for the factory garment worker,
or packages that will aid the families of the victims
that were involved in the tragedies. Because of the

The Best of ESU 40

lack of good will from these corporations actions,
the victims must be used to establish a case for a
universal standard of working conditions set forth
by the World Trade Organization. This application
of working conditions would allow for other nations to look at countries that still lack the working
standard and to give those nations the ability to go
court for the worker in either the World Court or
in the WTO Court to insure that those standards
are met. By allowing other nations to help pursue
the workers rights for all nations it would allow
for a safety net to insure that no worker would be
left out. A case that would be brought before the
World Court must include zoning conditions for
the structure of the building, a set working day
for the worker, a standard pay scale, benefit packages for the employee, as well as a, fund that would
compensate past and future victims if while these
structures are improved a future incident would
happen. If corporations are looked at and given
rights as that of an individual, they also must be
held accountable for the actions or lack of actions
they take in regards to others.

Works Cited
Greenhouse, Steven. U.S. Retailers Decline to Aid Factory Victims in Bangladesh. New York Times. 21

November 2013. Web. 21 March 2014.
Alam, Julhes. Wage Protest Closes Bangladesh Garment Factories. Associated Press. 11 Nov. 2013. Web.

ABC News. 22 March 2014.
Associated Press. Bangladesh to Inspect Safety at Garment Factories. Associated Press. 21 Nov. 2013.
Web. Yahoo News. 22 March 2014.
PRI. U.S. Ends Trade Privileges to Bangladesh Following Garment Factory Disasters. PRIs The World.

28 June 2013. Web. 22 March 2014.
Guilford, Gwynn. Here are the Western Retailers That Source Clothes From the Bangladesh Factories

Where over 200 Workers Died. Quartz. 25 April 2013. Web. 22 March 2014.

The Best of ESU 41

Caitlin Wayman
Junior
GB 425
Dr. Dwight Moore
Spring 2013

Lethal White Overo Syndrome

ABSTRACT: The lethal white overo

syndrome is a genetic disease of horses, which is

most prevalent in American Paint Horses. It is inherited as an autosomally dominant trait. The disease is characterized by all or nearly-all white coats
and agangliosis of the distal portion in the intestine in foals born with the disease, and they do not
make it more than a few days after birth. The cause
of death is due to an obstruction of the intestines,
due to there being no function. The cause of lethal
white overo syndrome lies within the endothelin
receptor-B locus. A dinucleotide mutation occurs,
changing TCAG, which substitutes a lysine for
isoleucine at codon 118, and disrupts the function
of the protein. The endothelin receptor-B gene is
responsible for the proper embryonic development
of melanocytes, enteric ganglia of the distal intestine, and spiral ganglion neurons in the inner ear.

Variations in the patterns of coat color of
horses are very sought out traits for owners and
are often times primary factors that are used in the
selection of horses for breeding. In Paint horses, as
well as Quarter and Thoroughbreds, white spotting patterning is a very desirable trait (Santschi et
al., 1998). However, it has been found that horses
possessing white-patterned coats can produce
offspring with diseases, which are sometimes fatal.
One of these genetic diseases in horses is lethal
white overo syndrome (LWOS), sometimes known
as lethal white foal syndrome (McCabe et al.,
1990). Lethal white overo syndrome is an autonomically inherited genetic disorder (Santschi et
al., 1998). Foals that have LWOS can be identified
at birth, from their characteristic all or nearly-all

white coats and most of the time bright blue eyes.

The foals typically die in the first few days of life,
due to the inability of the colon to function normally because of an absence of myentric ganglia
in the ileum, cecum, and colon. This agangliosis
of the large intestine leads to a development of an
intestinal obstruction, causing rapid death of the
foal (McCabe et al., 1990).

The clinical signs and presentations of the
LWOS in horses are very similar to a disease common in humans, Hirschsprung disease (HSCR)
(Yang et al., 1998). In both diseases, agangliosis
in the distal intestine is observed. Multiple studies done on the causes of these two diseases have
concluded that a gene mutation at the endothelinB receptor (EDNRB) plays a role in the agangliosis
(Yang et al., 1998). The EDNRB gene belongs to
the family of G protein-coupled receptors, activating the actions of many endothelins (Ida-Eto et al.,
2011). This gene is very important in the process
of neural crest cell development in embryos (Shin
et al, 1999). It serves a role in the initiation of the
migration of these cells, and if the EDNRB gene is
mutated, there could be problems that occur down
the line of development (Shin et al, 1999).
PIGMENTATION IN HORSES
There are two different forms of white patterning in horse coat color that are recognized by the
American Paint Horse Association, overo and
tobiano (Vrotsos et al., 2001). Overo and tobiano
patterning are very similar, but there are distinguishable differences between them. The tobiano
pattern is characterized by white body markings
that run along and cross the dorsal midline with

snips, stars, and blazes present on the head (Vrotsos et al., 2001). The overo pattern is very similar,
the white markings on the abdomen extend to the
dorsal midline, but do not cross it, and the head
of the horse has extensive white markings (Vrotsos et al, 2001). The overo color pattern is further
divided into subclasses of markings; frame, calico,
splashed white, and sabino (Vrotsos et al., 2001).

There are many genes that control coat
color phenotype in horses. The tobiano patterning
in horses is an autosomal dominant trait. The gene
that is associated with this type of white patterning in horses is the c-kit proto-oncogene (KIT),
which is a member of the tyrosine kinase receptor
family (Parry, 2005). Whenever a polymorphism
in intron 13 of the KIT gene is present, then the
horse phenotype shows a tobiano coat pattern
(Parry, 2005). The gene that plays a role in the
overo patterning of horses is not the KIT gene,
but instead a strong association of the EDNRB
gene with overo patterning phenotype has been
found (Vrotsos et al, 2001). In one study done, it
was found that whenever the EDNRB gene had
a mutation in the heterozygous state, there was a
very high incidence of frame overo, highly white
calico overo, and frame blend overo (Vrotsos et al.,
2001). Whenever a foal was born with an all white
coat, they were found to be homozygous for the
mutation at the EDNRB gene, and were diagnosed
with LWOS (Vrotsos et al., 2001). From the results
of this study, it was concluded that the EDNRB
gene is the controller of the white pigmentation in
horses, and could play a role in the cause of LWOS
(Vrotsos et al., 2001).
MODE OF INHERITANCE
Lethal white overo syndrome is a genetically inherited disease, so by knowing the genetic makeup
of the horses that are used for breeding, it can be
avoided. The gene that has a mutation that leads
to OLWS is the EDNRB gene (Parry, 2005). Solidcolored horses, or wild type in this situation, are
homozygous for having the Ile118 allele at the EDNRB gene (Parry, 2005). Horses that display any

The Best of ESU 42

types of white pattering are heterozygous at the

EDNRB gene, having both an Ile118 and Lys118
alleles at the locus. Foals that are born with LWOS
are homozygous for the Lys118 allele (Parry, 2005).

The EDNRB gene has pleiotropic effects,
meaning it influences multiple phenotypic traits,
which include white color patterning and agangliosis of the colon (Bellone, 2010). Because the
horses that display the characteristic overo coat
pattern are heterozygous, it can be said that a
single dose of the mutant allele (Lys118) is enough
to produce the pattern, and having one normal
allele present protects the horse against development of agangliosis (Yang et al., 1998). In contrast
to this, humans that have HSCR are both homozygous and heterozygous for a mutation at the EDNRB gene (Yang et al., 1998). This could be due to
humans having a regulation of the EDNRB gene,
so that it is expressed at a lower level than it is in
horses. This would require the expression of two
normal alleles to be present in humans to protect
against agangliosis (Yang et al., 1998).

The inheritance of overo spotting is autosomal, meaning that it is not a sex-linked trait and
does not occur more in either females or males
(Bowling, 1994). A recent study was done to find
out if the gene was dominant or recessive. They
studied the transmission of overo spotting in the
offspring of stallions that were the product of two
solid breed parents (or cropouts). They studied
the genetic code of 236 foals that resulted from
mating of four overo stallions to quarterhorse and
thoroughbred mares (Bowling, 1994). The results
were that 60% of the offspring were overo spotted,
with a sex ratio of 1:1 (Bowling, 1994). If the overo
spotting pattern was produced by the action of a
recessive gene, then the number of overo offspring
would reflect the frequency of the overo allele in
the non-spotted mares, which would appear to
be 0.5 (Bowling, 1994). From this, it would mean
that whenever a crossing done with quarter horse
X quarter horse, then 25% of the offspring would
be cropout foals, which is not consistent with the
findings (Bowling, 1994). However, if it was

The Best of ESU 43

produced by a dominant gene, then cropout stallions that were heterozygous for the gene would
produce 50% overo foals and wouldnt require a
spotting gene from the mares (Bowling, 1994). It
was determined from this study that the dominant gene hypothesis was a better fit to explain the
inheritance mode (Bowling 1994).

Whenever genotyping by the allele-specific
PCR protocol on genomic DNA was preformed
for the EDNRB gene, the image resulting in the
stained gel supported the fact that horses with
OLWS are homozygous for the mutated gene
(Santschi et al., 1998). The image showed that
whenever the 136-base pair (bp) band, which
corresponded to the Lys118 allele, and the 118-bp
band, that corresponds to the Ile118 allele, were
present, the horse was in the heterozygous state
and did not show signs of LWOS (Santschi et al.,
1998). However, whenever there was an absence in
the 118-bp band but the 136-bp was present, then
the horse had LWOS and was in the homozygous
state (Santschi et al., 1998).
GENE MUTATION
The genetic cause of overo lethal white syndrome
is a missense mutation, or a single base-pair
substitution (Finno et al., 2009). The base pair
change that occurs happens on chromosome 17 at
49432374-49454137 (Finno et al., 2009). The gene
that undergoes this mutation is the endothelin
B-receptor gene, which is a seven membrane domain G-protein-coupled receptor (Santschi et al,
1998). The mutation occurs at codon 118, which
is located in the first transmembrane of the gene.
In a study done at the University of Minnesota,
they sequenced the EDNRB gene cDNA. From the
results, it was concluded that there was a sequence
polymorphism detected at nucleotides 353-354
in foals that had OLWS (Santschi et al., 1998). At
these nucleotides, an ATC codon that codes for
isoleucine (ILE) is replaced with an AAG codon,
that codes for lysine (Lys) (Santschi et al., 1998).
The other 26 codons, from 103-128, and the amino
acids that are corresponding to them are identi-

cal. Since the Ile is a polar or un-charged amino

acid and is replace with Lys, which is positively
charged, it suggests that there are major consequences in the function of this protein (Santschi et
al., 1998).

In another study experiment done at Royal
Alexandra Hospital for Children, they investigated
the mutation of the EDNRB gene in LWOS to see
which nucleotides were affected (Yang et al., 1998).
They isolated the cDNA by using primers located
along it, and then cloned the whole cDNA, which
included the untranslated 5-3 region (Yang et
al., 1998). Upon analysis of the cDNA sequence, a
dinucleotide mutation at the nucleotide position
353-354 occurred, changing TC AG (Yang et al.,
1998). This dinucleotide mutation changes isoleucine to lysine, but it is still possible that it is only
a single nucleotide mutation with a variation that
represented a sequence polymorphism. However,
this was ruled out when an allele-specific PCR
and amplification-created restriction site approach
(ACRS) was done (Yang et al., 1998). Because
there was complete digestion of the amplified PCR
product in foals that had LWOS, then it showed
that all foals with LWOS were homozygous for a
dinucleotide mutation (Yang et al., 1998).
ROLE OF THE ENDOTHELIN
B-RECEPTOR GENE
The endothelin B-receptor gene encodes for a
G-protein-coupled receptor, and has seven transmembrane domains (Shin et al., 1999). It is expressed in a number of cells with different variability, and is required for proper development of
melanocytes and enteric ganglia, which are derived from the neural crest (Hou et al., 2004). The
neural crest is an embryonic structure along the
dorsal line of the neural tube, and contains a pluripotent population of cells that will differentiate
into different body structures (Hou et al., 2004).
There has been genetic evidence that shows the
development of pigment cells requires endothelin 3 (EDN 3), which is a peptide ligand that acts
through the EDNRB gene along with endothelin 1

The Best of ESU 44

and endothelin 2 (Hou et al., 2004). Development
of melanocytes is also dependent on the KITligand (KITL), which acts through the tyrosine
kinase receptor KIT, and also a set of transcription
factors (Hou et al., 2004).

In a study done at the National Institutes
of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, they addressed
the question of whether the EDNRB acts on the
melanocytes themselves, referred to as cell autonomous, or if the EDNRB effects the melanocytes indirectly, by acting on different cell types
that also effect development, known as being cell
non-autonomous (Hou et al., 2004). The results
of their findings were mixed. It was found that as
long as the melanocyte cells expressed early lineage markers, like KIT, then they would develop
normally (Hou et al., 2004). This indicated that the
EDNRB signaling was cell non-autonomous, and
supports previous studies done with chimeric mice
that showed a wild-type environment supported
EDNRB mutant enteric neuroblasts to migrate and
colonize in the large intestine (Hou et al., 2004).

Although the KIT ligand was sufficient
enough to allow for the development of melanocytes, it was not enough by itself to induce pigmentation of them (Hou et al., 2004). They found
that whenever tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate
(TPA) was introduced, then pigmentation was
observed (Hou et al., 2004). A major action of EDNRB and TPA is the activation of protein kinase C
(PKC), which phosphorylates tryrosinase, causing
melanocytes to be pigmented (Hou et al., 2004).
This finding supported that the EDNRB gene
signaling pathway is actually cell-autonomous, and
not cell-nonautonomous.

The endothelins consist of a group of related 21-amino acid peptides (Gariepy, 1998).
The two endothelin receptors are EDNRA and
EDNRB, both are G protein-coupled receptors
and hepthelical transmembrane proteins. The
EDNRB gene will bind all three of the peptide
ligands, EDN1, EDN2, and EDN3, with equal affinity (Gariepy, 1998). It has been reported that
the EDNRB gene has a role in the development of

the human enteric nervous system, and with the

expression of melanocyte development. Both the
melanocytes and components of the enteric nervous system are derived from the embryonic neural crest cells in the neural tube (Gariepy, 1998).
Whenever cells migrate from the neural crest they
take one of two pathways: 1.) the ventral pathway,
which leads through the somites or 2.) the dorsolateral pathway, which goes between the somites
and ectoderm (outer layer) ( Gariepy, 1998). The
cells that take the ventral pathway become neurons
and cells that go along the dorsolateral pathway
become melanocytes. In situ hybridization shows
that the EDNRB expression begins at about the
fourth to fifth week of gestation, in the embryonic
stage 9-10 (Gariepy, 1998). In this stage, EDNRB
mRNA has been found in the neural crest cells of
the foregut, but is not detected in the hind gut until after week six of gestation (Gariepy, 1998). The
EDN3 ligand begins to be expressed during the
fifth week of gestation as well, and is detected in
the stomach and hindgut mesenchyme (Gariepy,
1998).

A study done at Princeton University was
done to determine the time during embryonic
development that EDNRB signaling is required for
proper development (Shin et al., 1999). Here, they
integrated the tetracycline (tet)- inducible system,
that is based on bacterial systems, into the endogenous EDNRB locus (Shin et al., 1999). The method
performed in the lab was to manipulate the gene
expression of EDNRB during the gestation period at different intervals by using a tet derivative,
doxycycline (dox) (Shin et al., 1999). Whenever
they administered a dose of dox at embryonic day
9.5, the tetO-EDNRB mRNA was induced 9-13
hours after the treatment, indicating that EDNRB
is not required before day 10 (Shin et al., 1999).
When the dox treatment was given at embryonic
day 10.5, there were three different phenotypic
classes: 1.) wild-type for both cells 2.) part of the
head unpigmented and regular colon 3.) fully unpigmented head and megacolon present (Shin et
al., 1999). These results suggested that there is

The Best of ESU 45

a difference in the temporal area for the timing

of the requirement for the EDNRB gene, and that
signaling is required soon after day 10 (Shin et al.,
1999). All offspring died from a non-functional
colon whenever the dox was administered during embryonic day 11.5, showing that the EDNRB
gene must be activated between days 10 and 11 of
embryonic development (Shin et al., 1999). They
found that the latest time that EDNRB signaling is
required is embryonic day 12.5 (Shin et al, 1999).
From this experiment, it was concluded that EDNRB signaling is required during embryonic days
10 and 12.5, to ensure proper development of the
distal intestine and melanocytes (Shin et al., 1999).

The proper development of melanocytes
and the enteric ganglia and intestines is not the
only part of embryonic development that the
EDNRB plays a role in. There have been many
links found between deafness in mammals and
the lack of functional melanocytes (Magdesian et
al., 2009). The reason behind this is that there is
a small number of melanocytes in the inner ear
which are crucial to have proper hearing, and if
there is abnormal development of the cells during
embyrogenisis, deafness and pigmentation alterations are common (Magdesian et al., 2004). To
determine if this system is also true in horses, a
study was performed by testing brainstem auditory-evoked responses and genotyping in four different groups of horses: confirmed deaf, suspected
deaf, nondeaf, and those horses identified as deaf
in the hospital data base (Magdesian, 2009). The
confirmed deaf group had 3 foals that had LWOS,
so they were homozygous for the mutation on the
EDNRB gene (Magdesian et al., 2009). This group
also included 8 American Paint horses, 7 of which
were heterozygous for the mutation (Magdesian
et al., 2009).The nondeaf group showed that 3 of
the 7 horses were heterozygous for a mutation,
and eighteen horses in the suspected deaf group
were also in the heterozygous state (Magdesian et
al., 2009). The overall results of this study showed
that 91% of the confirmed deaf and suspected deaf
horses had a mutation at the EDNRB locus, show-

ing that there must be some connection between

hearing and EDNRB gene (Magdesian et al., 2009).

The question remained as to what exactly
the EDNRB has to do with the development of
hearing. A study done at the Chubu University
tried to solve this mystery, by homozygously
deleing the EDNRB gene in mice (Ida-Eto et al.,
2011). They found that EDNRB is expressed in the
inner ear spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) during
development of hearing in embryonic mice (IdaEto et al., 2011). Whenever the EDNRB is deleted
in embryonic mice, then there is a defect in the
melanocytes of the stria vascularis in the inner ear,
as well as neurodegeneration of the SGNs (Ida-Eto
et al., 2011). The mice with the deleted EDNRB
gene also presented typical signs and symptoms of
LWOS, including no pigmentation and loss of distal intestinal function. This study brought together
the tie between the EDNRB and deafness in horses
(Ida-Eto et al., 2011).
CONCLUSION
Lethal white overo syndrome is a disease in horses
that is genetically inherited, and has fatal effects
within the first few days after the foal is born.
Although this disease is very serious, if the correct precautions are put into effect, it can be prevented. Since the inheritance pattern of the locus
that carries the cause of the disease, the EDNRB,
is known, then horse breeders should fully educate
themselves on it. However, since the disease can
sometimes be a result of mating between Paint
horses and breeds that are not typically known to
produce offspring with LWOS, the disease may
never be able to be fully prevented. There is hope
that with further research studies and horse breeders putting careful selections of breeders into
effect, than the number of foals born with LWOS
will begin to steadily decrease.

Literature Cited

The Best of ESU 46

Bellone, R. R. 2010. Pleiotropic effects of pigmentation genes in horses. Animal Genetics, 41: 100-110.
Bowling, A.T. 1994. Dominance inheritance of overo spotting in Paint Horses. The Journal of Herditary,

85: 222-224.
Finno, C.J, S.J. Spier, and S.J. Valberg. 2009. Equine diseases caused by known genetic mutations. The

Veterinary Journal, 179: 336-347.
Gariepy, C. E., D.T. Cass, and M. Yanagisawa. 1996. Null Mutation of endothelin receptor type B gene

in spotting lethal rats causes aganglionic megacolon and white coat color. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences of the United State of America, 93: 867-872.
Hou, L., W.J. Pavan, M.K. Shin, and H. Arnheiter. 2004. Cell-autonomous and cell non-autonomous

signaling through endothelin receptor B during melanocytes development. Development, 131:
3249-3247.
Ida-Eto, M., N.Ohgami, M. Iida, I. Yajima, M. Y. Kumasaka, K. Takaiwa, T. Kimtsuki, M. Sone, T.

Nakashima, T. Tsuzki, S. Komune, M. Yanagisawa, and M. Kato. 2011. Partial requirement of

endothelin receptor B in spiral ganglion neurons for postnatal development of hearing. The

Journal of Biological Chemistry, 286, 34: 29621-29626.
Magdesian, K. Gary, D.C. Williams, M. Aleman, R.A. LeCouteur, and J.E. Madigan. 2009. Evaluation of

deafness in American Paint Horses by phenotype, brainstem auditory-evoked responses, and

endothelin receptor B genotype. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 235,

10: 1204-1210.
McCabe, L., L.D. Griffin, A. Kinzer, M. Chandler, J.B. Breckwith, and E.R.B. McCabe. 1990. Overo lethal

white foal syndrome: Equine model of aganglionic megacolon (Hirschsprung disease). American

Journal of Medical Genetics, 36: 336-340
Parry, N.M.A.. 2005. Overo lethal white foul syndrome. Compendium Vet: 1-7.
Santschi, E.M., A.K. Purdy, S.J. Valberg, P.D. Vrotsos, H. Kaese, and J.R. Mickelson. 1998. Endothelin

receptor B polymorphism associated with lethal white foal syndrome in horses. Mammalian

Genome, 9: 306-309.
Shin, M.K., J.M. Levorse, R.S. Ingram, and S.M. Tilghman. 1999. The temporal requirement for

endothelin receptor-B signaling during neural crest development. Nature, 402: 492-501.
Vrotsos, P.D., E.M. Santschi, and J.R. Mickelson. 2001. The impact of the mutation causing overo lethal

white syndrome on white patterning in horses. Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the

AAEP, 47: 385-391.
Yang, G.C., D. Croaker, A.L. Zhang, P. Manglick, T. Cartmill, and D. Cass. 1998. A dinucleotide

mutation in the endothelin-B receptor gene is associated with lethal white foal syndrome

(LWFS); a horse variant of Hirschsprung disease (HSCR). Human Molecular Genetics, 7, 6:
1047-1052.

The Best of ESU 47

Donald L. Wilcox Jr.
Junior
GB 425
Dr. Dwight Moore
Spring 2013

An Analysis of Genetic Factors

That Influence Canine Hip Dysplasia

ABSTRACT: Canine hip dysplasia

mixed, breed dogs in American households have

been reported to carry this debilitating disease
(CHD) affects over 50 million domesticated dogs
(Zhou et al. 2010).The breeds with the highest
in America today. The disease is characterized by
incidences are reported to be the Bulldog (70.8%),
delayed onset of capital femoral ossification, hip
joint laxity, and subluxation between the acetabu- Otterhound (53.9%), Clumber Spaniel (53.6%),
St. Bernard (47.8%), and Boykin Spaniel (46.5%);
lum and femoral head. Osteoarthritis in the hips
the most popular breeds such as Golden Retriever,
also develops. It is believed to have a polygenic
mode of inheritance with a major locus and many Labrador Retriever, Rottweiler, and German Shepherd, are around 20-30% (Wang et al. 1999). CHD
additive loci influencing the expression of the
phenotype. Environmental factors such as diet and is characterized by a delayed onset of capital femoral ossification, hip joint laxity, and subluxation
exercise have also been found to play a key role
between the acetabulum and femoral head, which
in expression. A single nucleotide polymorphism
ultimately leads to osteoarthritis in the affected
(SNP) haplotype of ILI2 and six other SNP near
hips (Todhunter et al. 1999). The developmental
COL15A1, PARD3B, and PTPRD were found to
effects usually occur during the last 6 months of
be related to CHD. Microsatellites revealed heritability estimates of age at onset of femoral capital a dogs first year of life (Lohi and Nicholas 2009).
The disease is believed to be polygenic, in which
chondroepiphyseal ossification (OSS) (.43), dismultiple loci affect the phenotypic expression. Entraction index (DI) (.5), and dorsolateral subluxvironmental factors such as nutrition and exercise
ation score (DLS) (.61). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) predicted sex and carriers also influence expression (Fries and Remedios
1995). Heritability estimates range from 0.11 to
of CHD in Boykin Spaniels accurately. Quantita0.68 depending on the breed of dog (Breur et al.
tive trait loci (QTL) that were linked with CHD
2001). There are different measurements of the
traits were found on chromosome 4, 9, 10, 11, 16,
20, 22, 25, 29, 30, 35, and 37. A mutation in FBN2 characteristics of CHD that are popularly used in
studies. These include: the DI, OSS, DLS, and the
was found to be linked to radiographic CHD.
Knowing these genetic factors and using pedigree Norberg angle (NA) a measure of hip incongruphenotypes, estimated breeding values can be cal- ency in hip dysplasia (Todhunter et al. 2003; Zhu
culated and used to improve selection for breeders et al. 2008).

Understanding the genetic architecture of
to decrease incidence of CHD in the population.
CHD could help prevent future occurrences by

providing a system of selection to minimize the

CHD is one of the most prevalent diseases
unwanted traits from being passed on. Homolofound in veterinarian medicine today. A total of
gous human models, as in human hip dysplasia,
75% of the 70 million domesticated, pure and

The Best of ESU 48

could also be further understood by analyzing the
genes that affect the expression of CHD, as both
diseases are characterized by joint laxity. Human
hip dysplasia was estimated at 1-10 per 1000 live
births (Todhunter et al. 2005). Different studies
have been reported that analyze some possible
genetic contributions that lead to CHD. Todhunter
et al. suggested a major locus with some loci acting additively may influence hip laxity (Todhunter
et al. 2003). QTLs are also heavily investigated
in the canine genome that corresponds to CHD.
Two QTLs were found on canine chromosome
one (CFA1) that correspond to left and right hips
in which interactions gave rise to different extreme phenotypes (Chase et al. 2004). Zhou et al.
(2010) identified four different single nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNP) loci that are associated
with CHD and two with osteoarthritis. Ultimately,
breeding programs have been used to combat the
prevalence of CHD but the complete genetic pathway is unknown at this time.

phenotypic variation in hip quality is derived from

genetic differences among animals passed from
parents to offspring, or in other words, the ratio of
additive genetic variance to the total phenotypic
variance (Lohi and Nicholas 2009). An index of
1.0 means environmental factors do not play a
role and all is controlled genetically, while 0 states
the trait is not genetically influenced (Fries and
Remedios 1995). Genetic analysis also showed
an additive mode of inheritance for DI and DLS
scores and dominance deviation also influence
DLS scores (Bliss et al. 2002). A major locus may
also be involved in the phenotypic variation.
Leighton analyzed this with groups of Labrador
Retrievers and German Shepherds and calculated
major gene indexes (MGI) to determine if it was
in fact one gene that made a substantial difference.
The complicated formula is broken down in the
report. To determine if there is a major gene, one
or more of the following criteria has to be proven
true: 1) large values obtained for MGI(), 2) large
differences exist between successive values of MGI
INHERITANCE PATTERN
(), or 3) MGI () increases in value as increases
CHD was first thought to be caused by a domi(Leighton 1997). The data fulfilled criteria 1 and
nant gene with incomplete penetrance and varying 2 for both breeds of dogs, which provided moderexpressivity, yet no conclusive data was reported to ately strong evidence that a major gene was segreback this theory up (Hutt 1967). The theory that is gating for hip laxity (Leighton 1997). A major gene
now accepted is a polygenic mode of inheritance
contributing to the development of CHD was also
where a large number of alleles are segregating at
revealed in a German Shepherd population study
many loci in which some are linked on the same
through dichotomous and trichotomous encoding
chromosome, while others are scattered through(Janutta et al. 2006). Many other mutations also
out the genome (Leighton 1997). This process of
act as an additive affect on the phenotype.
allelic segregation happens in meiosis when the
egg or sperm cells are created. Expression is also
GENETIC MARKERS
heavily influenced by environmental factors such
Different genetic marks are used to determine the
as obesity, nutrition, and exercise (Lohi and Nich- variations in alleles in an organisms DNA. Some
olas 2009). These factors are relevant only when
of the more common techniques seen are single
the contributing loose hip laxity genes are found.
nucleotide polymorphisms, microsatellites, and
Not adequately supplying specific diet or exercise
randomly amplified polymorphic DNA. SNPs are
could result in an increased expression of the CHD single nucleotide variants found within coding or
phenotype.
non-coding regions of genes (Zhou et al. 2010).

Heritability estimates vary from breed to
An example of this could be that a cytosine is presbreed, yet the overall estimate is about 0.11-0.68
ent in a DNA sequence in one individual, while a
(Breur et al. 2001). This means that 11-68% of the thymine is present in another. Clements et

The Best of ESU 49

al. (2010) looked at SNP in regards to canine joint
diseases in a population of Golden Retrievers and
Labrador Retrievers and analyzed a total of 113
SNP. The method of acquiring the SNP involved
the use of amplifying regions of each gene using
polymerase chain reaction (Clements et al. 2010).
They identified that a SNP haplotype of IL12
(CCTAACGG) was linked with the risk of developing HD in Labradors (Clements et al. 2010). The
first genome-wide association study was conducted by Zhou et al. (2010) that revealed different
SNP were involved with CHD and osteoarthritis.
Six different SNPs were identified with an association; three of these six were adjacent to COL15A1,
PARD3B, and PTPRD that have also been linked
with human osteoarthritis (Zhou et al. 2010).
EVC and EVC2 that were near SNPs that have
been associated with CHD cause Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, which is a rare autosomal recessive
chondrodysplasia (Zhou et al. 2010). PTPRD SNPs
were found to alter the expression a member of the
protein tyrosine phosphate (PTPs) family; PTPs
are one of the signaling molecules of cell growth
(Zhou et al. 2010). These signaling molecules
could play a key role in joint formation of the hip
as the canine develops. This gene is also highly
expressed in human knee osteoarthritis cartilage;
study of the biochemical pathways through the
canine genome could provide insight of the human
condition. SNP BICF2S23432143 at 57.517597 Mb
on CFA11 is near nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and a gene at around 57.6 Mb that produces
IGF receptor binding proteins (Zhou et al. 2010).
IGF1 is important since it is an anabolic growth
factor for chondrocytes and IGF1 polymorphisms
are responsible in size variation of Portuguese
Water Dogs (Sutter et al. 2007). MFAP1 near SNP
BIC2P799261 on CFA30 encodes the MFAP1 protein; the role of the microfibril associated protein
is to contribute microfibril structure and function (Zhou et al. 2010). Microfibrils serve several
function roles and are very important in elastic
fiber assembly which deals with joint formation.
SNP BIC2G630205523 on CFA17 was the last SNP

heavily reported on. The nearest gene REG3A posses anti-inflammatory properties and is a signaling
molecule in the MAPK, mutations can influence
the progression of hip osteoarthritis (Zhou et al.
2010).

Microsatellite analysis also helps identify
QTL for traits related to CHD. Microsatellites are
tandemly repeated sequences of nitrogenous bases
that have a unit of repetition between one and five
base pairs (Jarne and Lagoda 1996). They provide
powerful Mendelian markers and are widely studied with genetic diseases. There are three major
types found: dinucleotide repeats, trinucleotide
repeats, and tetranucleotide repeats. Dinucleotide repeats are the most frequently used loci that
occur usually every 30-50 kb and CA repeats are
widely found in the animal kingdom; trinucleotide
repeats are found within exons with GTG occurring most often; tetranucleotide repeats are highly
polymorphic and usually involve GATA/GACA
repeats (Jarne and Lagoda 1996). Microsatellites were used by Todhunter et al. (2003) to help
identify QTL and heritability on an outcrossed
canine pedigree. The markers revealed heritability
estimates for OSS (0.43), DI (.5), and DLS score
(.61) while having 77% of microsatellites having a
polymorphic information content value of 0.59 in
the F1s (Todhunter et al. 2003). The microsatellite alleles followed a strong Mendelian pattern of
inheritance (Todhunter et al. 2003).

Another technique used is RAPD. RAPD
are similar to microsatellites and detect polymorphisms in the genome. There are two major advantages of using RAPD: RAPD primers may be
purchased commercially and used in any organism
and RAPD simultaneously screens several loci
which provide faster results (Wang et al. 1999).
Wang et al. (1999) used digested DNA primers in
twelve Boykin Spaniels and discovered a couple
of unique relationships. Primer OPW9 (GTGACCGAGT) created an extra band (800 bp) that was
present after amplification in dogs 2, 3, 6, 7, and
1(Wang et al. 1999). All of the dogs were male and
predicted the rest of Spaniels sex 100% accurately.

The Best of ESU 50

Primer r105 (GCACCGAACG) generated bands
of 1,000 bp in all who were tested and left two distinct intensities. The high intensity band that was
found in dogs 2, 3, 6-9, and 11; all dogs beside 3
and 6 were found to have CHD (Wang et al. 1999).
The lower intensity was found in the remaining
and only 4 and 6 were diagnosed with CHD; this
primer predicted the presence and absence of
CHD by about 67% (Wang et al. 1999). With these
markers, CHD can be predicted before it is expressed in the phenotype.
UNDERSTANDING QTL
Quantitative trait loci are regions of the chromosome that represent substantial portions of genetic
variation of different traits (Lohi and Nicholas
2009). Many studies are done that identify QTL
that influence the expression of CHD. QTL mapping is useful, yet it is also complicated by factors as in QTL environmental interaction or
QTL epistasis (Phavaphutanon 2009). Chase et
al. (2004) identified two QTL in the Portuguese
Water Dogs that involved joint laxity measured by
the NA on CFA01 that accounted for about 15% of
genotypic variation in either the left (FH2524) or
right (FH2598) joint using a 3300- marker canine
map (Chase et al. 2004). Extreme phenotypes were
associated with heterozygous genotypes, and the
left hip was found to be more lax than the right
(Chase et al. 2004). Around the same time, a dysplastic Labrador Retrievers and trait-free Greyhounds pedigree was developed by Todhunter et
al. (2003) to map other QTL. This pedigree used a
single-marker, linkage-based simulation to determine a power of 0.8, at an level of 0.05, to detect
underlying QTL with a genome wide screen in
the backcross generation (Todhunter et al. 2003).
Protective and destructive QTL of the hip joint
were found. QTL on CFA22 provided a protection
effect against CHD from the Greyhound population by increasing the DLS score by 6% compared
with the overall trait mean at the locus; conversely,
the destructive QTL from the dysplastic Labrador
Retrievers on CFA20 decreased the DLS score by

approximately 2% compared with the mean (Todhunter et al. 2005). The study used permutation
testing to derive chromosome-wide level of significance at p < 0.05 and ultimately found putative
QTL for one or more traits on chromosomes 4, 9,
10, 11 (p < 0.01), 16, 20, 22, 25, 29 (p <0.01), 30,
35, and 37 (Todhunter et al. 2005). Different QTL
have been reported for different sets of breeds. The
genetic background of different breeds can affect
the ability to detect and expression of different
QTL. A study evaluating QTL for CHD in Labrador Retrievers revealed supporting data for QTL
positioned 55 cM for the left hip DLS score and
NA and 70 cM for the right hip DLS score and NA
on CFA01 that affects the expression of joint laxity
that was also found in the study done by Chase et
al. (Phavaphutanon et al. 2009; Chase et al 2004).
This study also found that the QTL on CFA11
and CFA29 had a high level of heritability ranging from 0.31-0.46 that associated with the NA
(Phavaphutanon et al. 2009).

QTL mapping will help selection to deter
incidences of CHD. The goal of mapping is to apply genetic testing and marker-assisted selection
that improves screening (Phavaphutanon et al.
2009). This will help prevent mutations in alleles
supporting CHD from entering the gene pool of
breeding programs when they are recognized.
MUTATION IN FBN2
The first identified mutation has been found that
is linked to cause extreme hip laxity in the canine.
A 10-bp deletion haplotype in intron 30 of FBN2
contributed to a higher distraction index, extended-hip joint radiograph score, and a lower Norberg
angle and dorsolateral subluxation score (Friedenberg et al. 2011). FBN2 gene codes for microfibrillary proteins which are important for the growth
and development of the hip socket. A mutation in
this gene could result in less or more proteins being produced, ultimately affecting the phenotype.
These results were first found in the Labrador Retriever and then tested on other breeds. The data
supported the same associa

The Best of ESU 51

tion across multiple breeds. 143 dogs of six other
breeds were genotyped and those homozygous
for the deletion haplotype had significantly worse
radiographic CHD (Friedenberg et al. 2011). The
FBN2 mRNA was also tracked after expression.
They found increased capsular FBN2 mRNA as the
dorsolateral subluxation score decreased, as well
as canines with osteoarthritis developing; concurrently, dogs homozygous for the FBN2 deletion
had significantly less FBN2 mRNA in the femoral
head articular cartilage (Friedenberg et al. 2011).
BREEDING VALUES
Since CHD is a polygenic disease, the only way to
prevent occurrences is selection of breeding individuals. Programs have been made to estimate
these values for inheritance of traits regarding
CHD. These values are given the name estimated
breeding values (EBV) and described as the best
linear predictor of every dogs breeding value
derived from pedigree information and are more
accurate in estimating the genetic liability of a
trait than an individual phenotype (Lewis et al.
2013). These EBV improved genetic progress and
phenotype of offspring are significantly based on
selection on a study done by Lewis et al. (Lewis et
al. 2013). CHD prevalence decreased from 30% to
10% among a breeding population of Labrador Retrievers (Leighton 1997). Breeders can access these
values to develop generations of trait-free canines.
CONCLUSION
CHD is a polygenic trait that affects millions of
Canis familiaris around the world. Millions of dollars are spent annually on pets to counteract these
effects of dogs which are clinically diagnosed.
Understanding the genetic structure of this debilitating disease could influence a motion to breed
out the negative alleles among the population.
Attempts are continuously being made to read the
canine genome using SNPs, microsatellites, RAPD,
and QTL of chromosomes to help identify genetic
markers that relate to the phenotypic expression of
characteristics relating to CHD. If these progresses

are constantly being found, the EBV of breeds

could be continuously improved to allow breeders
control of traits passed on. The increased uses of
genetic markers have allowed EBVs to drop incidences of CHD in the Labrador Retriever population by 20%; once more markers are found, EBVs
will be even more accurate. Eventually, breeders
could make a huge impact on the prevalence of
CHD.

Genetic advances in the canine dysplasia
could also impact further advances in human orthopaedic diseases. Many of the genetic processes
found in CHD have similar matches in dysplasia
of hips or elbows of humans. The complete genetic
makeup in the canine genome is still unknown,
but the study of both cases could allow improvement. Discoveries in the genome would allow
prevention of this disease in the future, which
can save owners and researchers countless money
which could be used elsewhere. CHD is a very
serious problem in veterinarian medicine, yet genetic analysis provides a way to limit the spread of
negative alleles and help further understand cases
in canines and the homologous disease in humans.

The Best of ESU 52

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The Best of ESU

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