Ceremony Essays (551 words) - English Culture, English Language

Ceremony The ceremonies allowed Tayo to see that he was not alone and though he did go to war and began to mix with the white culture he did not abandon his people. Because it is the people that you love that you can never abandon because they will always be there for you no matter what. The book I decided to research was the Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester is a story about a man with much greater knowledge and wisdom than the average human being, but is so mentally devastated by a particular event in his WWII deployment, that he begins to fall out of place. William Chester Minor has a PhD and is a very American-like hero being in the War and serving his country. Doing a good deed is well in his nature as if he was made to do it, but he is broken down piece by piece. Minor had to brand one of his own soldiers for fleeing the battle field, and ever since that very day, Dr. Minor would never be the same man he once was. He lost all hope in himself. He began to feel like the world was out to get him, along with the Irishman that probably wanted to kill him. Minor had terrifying night terrors along with very intense paranoia. Not knowing if this man would ever be back to normal, the world gave him one more chance. He was able to contribute a huge amount of intelligence to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary). The woes began shortly after his departure from the battle field, and into the real world, where he would find out that he couldnt get away with murder, literally. Dr. Minor was a very bright man with a well centered head on his shoulders. Maybe that was all too good to be true after he murdered a man in the midst of night. People began to talk, but nobody really knew for sure. Why did Dr. minor shoot a man he had no relation to or sympathy for? What could drive a man that far to go out of his way to put himself in prison for the rest of his days on this planet? Baffling in all aspects, the doctors treating Dr. Minor were drawn to the conclusion that he was PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). When they began to analyze and speculate why Minor killed the innocent man, talking to Minor would be the easiest thing. He was like an open book, any question they asked, he had a very thorough answer to it. Minor began to talk about his time in the War, and thats when he himself realized what he had done, and exactly why he did it in the first place. Minor was having recollection of the Irishman who he branded, and he was so traumatized with that part icular event, that it drove him so insanely mad, he took an innocent mans life because of his fright. The years he would not get back, stuck inside an insane asylum, he would have plenty of time on his hands to think over what he had done, though he didnt feel much emotion at all. When minor got a phone call from the publishers of the OED, he was baffled.