WordWealth: abnegate

ab·ne·gate , v.t., -gat·ed, -gat·ing. Self-denial

Independence is necessitated not only by the difference in scale between the two countries. Already in the early days after September 11, it was evident that, in the difficult task ahead, the United States had chosen a course in which success would depend in part on the recruitment of Middle Eastern regimes threatened by Islamism-a thing quite delicate that, from the American perspective, has meant demanding of Israel the same kind of self-abnegation America asked of it, and received, during the Gulf war, and the same kind of self-abnegation America asked of it, and received, after Oslo. To the extent that Israel cannot afford to abnegate itself, it must be self-reliant, and it must, of course, be self-reliant in any case. —— Mark Helprin in What Israel Must Now Do to Survive, a Commentary, Britannica Magazine, Nov 2001

Lawrence's fiction with a central sexual theme develops from The Rainbow, in which he has bestowed his own experiences upon the woman protagonist, Ursula Brangwen, who can be seen metaphorically to be giving birth to herself at the end of the novel. The theme's penultimate expression is in The Plumed Serpent, where a woman achieves contentment only in self-abnegation to her chosen male. Finally, in Lady Chatterley Lover, "the Lady" discovers "a religious awe in the man's flesh," and anal intercourse is revealed as her necessary sexual surrender and the means of her ultimate satisfaction. Or, as the authors put it, "Lawrence begins to marginalize women," even if they are central to the narrative. Whereas, in his earlier works, "female characters serve[d] as agents of male wholeness, now men do so for themselves." —— Carolyn G. Heilbrun in A Search for Manhood, Britannica Magazine, May/Jun2002, Reviews the book 'Living at the Edge: A Biography of D.H. Lawrence and Frieda von Richthofen,' by Michael Squires and Lynn K. Talbot

In contrast, Benjamin's father Tom ascribes the identity "not Benjamin" to the figure on the hospital bed. Tom has never seen this being. He strongly believes that this is no longer his son, and he feels no parental hopes or responsibilities toward him. Tom's stance has left Annie with lasting hurt and anger. She thinks he is cowardly. She thinks he is immoral. She thinks his abnegation of responsibility toward their son is based on a modern, opportunistic concept of personal relationships that says they can be canceled when they are no longer reciprocal and mutually beneficial. Who is right? Tom would say that he is exercising his personal freedom to decide on what matters to him. Annie contends that love and loyalty are paramount; they are what hold the human community together.  —— Paul Kahn in Extreme Measures, Humanist; Jul/Aug2001, Focuses a story of a mother and a son with disability. Realization of the attitude of most people toward disabilities; Argument made by some people who advocate the killing of disabled infants; Effect of the existence of handicapped persons on society.

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