In Peter & Wendy, written by J. M. Barrie, Captain Hook is presented as a tyrannical but often ridiculous pirate who demands respect from everyone around him. Although he can be violent and frightening toward the Lost Boys, his incompetence and exaggerated concern for his own authority make him more of a foolish caricature of power than an impressive figure. Hook is deeply concerned with status, manners, and the appearance of being respectable, even when those concerns confli

In Peter & Wendy, written by J. M. Barrie, the children in Neverland often imitate the adults they have encountered without fully understanding the roles those adults play. Wendy tries to imitate her mother by caring for the Lost Boys, while Peter pretends to be “the great white father” without really knowing what a father is supposed to do. Through their different approaches to these roles, Barrie explores how children learn about adulthood by watching others, even when thei

Negative rights and positive rights are both commonly discussed in modern political theory and economics, but they are fundamentally different. Negative rights protect an individual's freedom by requiring others not to interfere with that person, while positive rights claim that an individual is entitled to receive a good or service, requiring someone else to provide it. The words negative and positive in this context do not mean bad and good. Instead, they describe what is r

In Peter & Wendy, written by J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan is a boy who refuses to grow up. However, his refusal to grow up seems to involve more than simply wanting to remain a child. Peter struggles to remember things for very long, and he often seems more interested in himself than in the people around him. By refusing to grow up, Peter preserves the freedom of childhood at the cost of developing the memory, consideration, and sense of responsibility necessary to form meaningful

In The Call of the Wild, written by Jack London in 1903, Buck must learn to survive in a world governed by different rules than those of the comfortable life he once knew. The people he encounters shape his development through both cruelty and kindness. Through Buck’s journey and his relationship with John Thornton, London suggests that becoming a positive influence requires more than good intentions; it requires the wisdom and competence gained through experience. Carl

In the first few chapters of The Call of the Wild, there is a near immediate death; a sweet but naive dog named Curly. She didn’t die because she was sweet, but because she was weak. The Call of the Wild was written by the naturalist Jack London in 1903. Naturalism is the belief that people are largely shaped by heredity, instincts, and their environment. London applies this idea to his animal characters, including the main character Buck, showing how their behavior changes i

A Study in Scarlet was the original Sherlock Holmes story, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in England in 1887. The story is divided into two parts. Part One ends with the case solved and the murderer caught in London; Part Two begins with a flashback, taking the audience four decades into the past in Utah. By the end of the book, it becomes clear that this flashback is the murderer’s explanation for his crimes. Jefferson Hope, the murderer, forces the audience to sympathize

Property rights and free speech are both important to keeping peace, but the two rights are more closely connected than they may initially appear. Without the ability to control what belongs to us, other freedoms, including freedom of speech, become difficult to exercise. Government interference can disrupt this relationship by taking control away from individuals or interfering with voluntary agreements. G.K. Chesterton made a similar argument about tradition. Chesterto

Political representation becomes less meaningful as representatives become increasingly distant from the people they are supposed to represent, both because congressional districts have grown dramatically and because the Senate was changed from representing state governments to being directly elected by voters. Political representation is supposed to mean that the people elect someone to represent their interests and concerns in government. In theory, when people vote f

A Study in Scarlet was the original Sherlock Holmes story, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in England in 1887. The story is divided into two parts. Part One ends with the case solved and the murderer caught in London; however, the first three chapters of Part Two mysteriously transport the audience decades into the past in Utah. This sudden change reveals that solving the facts of a mystery does not necessarily mean understanding the reasons behind them. Although Holmes bel

When preparing for a baby, there are many things to think about, but one of the simplest ways to support a healthy pregnancy is taking a prenatal vitamin. Prenatal vitamins provide important nutrients that help support both the mother's health and the baby's development. One of the most important nutrients to look for is folic acid. Folic acid is a form of folate, or vitamin B9, that helps the body make new cells. It is especially important during the earliest part of p

A Study in Scarlet was the original Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in England in 1887. Within the first five chapters of Part I, the audience is introduced to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, Sherlock’s new roommate and associate. Doyle uses Sherlock’s character to reveal both the strengths and weaknesses of a highly specialized approach to knowledge, while also revealing how years of specialization have shaped Holmes’s psychological way of thinking.

What does “We the People” actually mean? If the people are sovereign, does that mean 51% can do whatever they want to the other 49%? Popular sovereignty does not necessarily mean majority rule without limits. If the majority can simply override the rights of the minority, then “the people are sovereign” can become mob rule. Popular sovereignty means legitimate government ultimately comes from the people, but that does not automatically mean the majority possesses unlimit

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in England in 1885. The story showcases how a person’s immediate desires and life goals tend to contradict each other at times, often in wildly dark ways. But being a good person does not mean ignoring the monsters we face. Dr. Jekyll is a respected and pious English physician who despises his sinful desires and seeks to separate them from his respectable identity. Instead, he creates Mr. Hyde,

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in England in 1885. Within the first seven chapters of the story, the audience is introduced to four important characters: Dr. Jekyll, his old friends Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Utterson, and his new, unsavory acquaintance, Mr. Hyde. The relationship between Jekyll and Hyde raises a question that extends far beyond the story: how responsible are people for the things they allow into their lives?

The ultimate purpose of government is not to create or determine the rights of its people, but to protect the rights they already possess under natural law; therefore, government must remain limited enough that its authority does not threaten the freedoms it exists to preserve. Many scholars have posed the question, “What should be a government’s intention?” John Locke is one of the most prominent examples. Locke theorized natural law, the idea that human nature governs

John Locke Although some of John Locke’s theories have since been challenged by modern science, his emphasis on environmental influence and his concept of the tabula rasa (part of the nature vs nurture debate) marked a significant shift in the study of human development and helped shape modern approaches to education and psychology. Locke argued that the human mind begins as a blank slate at birth, meaning that knowledge and character are largely developed through e

G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, was an English writer. In 1901, he argued against a common view amongst the middle and upper-classes with his A Defense of Penny-Dreadfuls. The term penny dreadful is less often used today, replaced by terms like pulp fiction, trashy sensational page turners, guilty pleasure entertainment, or low brow fiction. Yet Chesterton felt a need to defend penny dreadfuls amongst his peers. It was common amongst the higher class, particularly philosop

John Tyler became the 10th president acting from 1841-45. The ninth, William Henry Harrison passed not long after taking office, Tyler became acting president until the public accepted him and he took his presidential oath. There are many ways to judge a president, but the least biased goes back to the Constitution and the oath each president takes. Tyler played the game, aiding in the slow decline of presidents upholding their oaths. Many presidents before John Tyler ha

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson held two terms as the 7th president of the United States from 1829-1837. He is often put in the same era as the 8th president, Martin Van Buren, who only won one term. They were both Democrats, holding the Lockean liberal beliefs of the party in their day, and they were both against the National Bank; however only one is often remembered today. Only Jackson has his face in our pockets and held two terms. Jackson wanted to emulate preside