Emilie Carles A life of her own Essay Example For Students

Emilie Carles: A life of her own Essay EmilieCarles: A life of her ownChange is never easy, and as they say, it waits for no man. The sleepy little village that writer,Emilie Carles lived in her stirring memoir, A Life Of Her Own was no exception. In 1900 the whole world was in the throes ofchange. Europe had at that time been experiencing the cataclysmic changesbrought on by the industrial revolution. France was no exception. The countryhad been trying to catch up to the science and technological advances of theindustrial giants, England and Germany. As a result it effected not only thewhole country of France but individuals too, from the crowned heads to thelittle villages up in the Alps, like the one Emilie Carles wrote about in herbook. Emilie Carles life was not an easy one in theface of all this change. First of all, her mother died when she was very young. Not having that support of her mother to guide her she had to work very hard interrible conditions with her father in the fields of the Claree Valley. Theydid not have the innovations of machines that were helping farmers all overEurope. Her life was very simple in this village and like many families of thattime, her life was ruled by a very strong patriarchal father, but even withthis, she was somehow swept into this air of newness that was in the air. Itcould have also been because she had no close female role model, that she wasnot socialized as second class citizen like many of the women of that time. OnceCarles began going to school, she realized that she was smart and that she wasdestined in the world for something more and something better. Changes werecoming slowly for some in the village but she could see that changes werehappening even there. One of the things that changed was that many of the menand sometimes their families were giving up work in the fields for a new lifein the growing cities down off the Alps. Therural life was changing because many people were also giving up the smallcottage industries that had been so much a part of village life. Activitieslike spinning, and weaving were now being done by huge machines in factories. Many of these specialized craftsmen were put out of work because it was done somuch faster and cheaper by the machines. As a result of this many of thevillages, including the one that Emilie Carles lived in were slowly becomingdeserted. Another change that Carles noticed was the growing sense of patriotismthat many of the people in her village had. This patriotism was due to theincreased sense of nationalism that most of the countries in Europe werepassing along to their citizens. It was all a race and Germany and England andFrance were in it. It was a race for technology, and it was a race to get openmarkets for these technology. England was in the lead for this, they hadcontrol of the economics of manycountries on other continents. France was also apart of this race to colonizeand get markets for its products as well. Emilie knew that she would have to get out of this quaint butintellectually stifling environment if she was also going to be a part of thechanges that the new century offered. She struggled and persevered and was ableto go to school and become a teacher. But she did not leave forever thebackward land of her early life, she returned to it. She married and then movedback to this village which she felt was a very original place. In many ways the village had changed as theresult of the war, but in many ways it was still the same place of hermemories. Thisbook was very good because it shows you that there are good and bad to progressand to keeping things the way they are. In her book , she likened these quaintlittle villages to cheese, each town makes a cheese and it is unique because itis not exactly like any other cheese made by anyone else. For Emilie Carles,she saw the worth that these villages have in that they provide a glimpse of alife that no longer exists because of the changes t hat all such ruralcommunities experienced after the turn of the century. .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e , .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .postImageUrl , .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e , .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:hover , .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:visited , .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:active { border:0!important; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:active , .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u47e8b84fc9554308e88c54342e9f968e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Theme Analysis of The Fellowship of the Ring by JR Essay