A Comparison of ‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles,’ by H.G Wells and ‘A Sound of Thunder,’ by Ray Bradbury In comparison, both stories inspire me into discussing the immense differences they both have between each other. Both stories have extreme similarities; yet, they have miraculous differences. Both ‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles,’ and ‘A Sound of Thunder’ are written in the genre of sci-fi and both are very stereotypical. Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which advances in science, or contact with more scientifically advanced civilizations, create situations different from those of both the present day and the known past. ‘The Man Who Could Work Miracles’ is a story based upon an abstruse character – George Fotheringay. Fotheringay is no bleeding-heart aching to turn the world into a painless utopia, but a nondescript man who takes his time to figure out just what has happened to him before bringing everything to a head. Inside this story, H.G.Wells accentuates the character – Fotheringay – by exploiting how he is against miracles - ‘let us understand what a miracle is…something that couldn’t happen without being specially willed.’ As shown, Fotheringay is totally unaware of the extraordinary coincidence that is going to endure him. His disbelief in miracles causes him, later, to have the power to cast such great astonishing achievements. Once given these miraculous powers, Fotheringay uses them, if you will, very selfishly – wishing for a nice, soft woollen nightshirt. Finally experimenting to an extent he haughtily takes his powers and u... ... middle of paper ... ...nguage as an effect of his accidental destruction of a little butterfly. A list to emphasise the text and to create a tense feeling can also be superb. ‘ Can’t we take it back, can’t we make it alive again, can’t we start over can’t we - ‘a key feature to this is repetition. This enables the text to be logged in to the reader’s memory exhausting the matter that it is an important issue. The very last line, ‘There was a sound of thunder,’ creates a heart-throb situation wanting the reader to empathise the death of the main character – Eckels. In conclusion to both the stories, I feel both writers have capabilities to make a shrub look tall and a tree look small and they both maintain a high density detailed piece of writing and are able to inspire the reader into continuing the story – thus, it may have already ended.
With an evident attempt at objectivity, the syntax of Passage 1 relies almost entirely on sentences of medium length, uses a few long sentences for balance, and concludes with a strong telegraphic sentence. The varying sentence length helps keep the readers engaged, while also ensuring that the writing remains succinct and informative. Like the varying sentence length, the sentence structures vary as complex sentences are offset by a few scattered simple sentences. The complex sentences provide the necessary description, and the simple sentences keep the writing easy to follow. Conversely, Passage 2 contains mostly long, flowing sentences, broken up by a single eight word sentence in the middle. This short sentence, juxtaposed against the length of the preceding and following sentences, provides a needed break in the text, but also bridges the ideas of the two sentences it falls between. The author employs the long sentences to develop his ideas and descriptions to the fullest extent, filling the sentences with literary elements and images. Coupled...
A Comparison A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury and The Star by H.G. Wells
While staying at Mel’s home, the adolescent female narrator personifies the butterfly paperweight. The life cycle begins with the narrator “hearing” the butterfly sounds, and believing the butterfly is alive. The butterfly mirrors the narrator’s feelings of alienation and immobility amongst her ‘new family’ in America. She is convinced the butterfly is alive, although trapped inside thick glass (le 25). The thick glass mirrors the image of clear, still water. To the adolescent girl, the thick glass doesn’t stop the sounds of the butterfly from coming through; however, her father counteracts this with the idea of death, “…can’t do much for a dead butterfly” (le 31). In order to free the butterfly, the narrator throws the disk at a cabinet of glass animals, shattering the paperweight, as well as the glass animals. The shattering of the glass connects to the shattering of her being, and her experience in fragility. The idea of bringing the butterfly back to life was useless, as the motionless butterfly laid there “like someone expert at holding his breath or playing dead” (le 34). This sense of rebirth becomes ironic as the butterfly did not come back to life as either being reborn or as the manifestation of a ghostly spirit; instead its cyclic existence permeates through the narrator creating a transformative
Have you ever read short stories by ray bradbury? In this essay i will be taking you through the similarities and differences i found while i was reading the three stories. I will also be discussing the characters and how they helped to give a better picture of the settings. Shall we begin.
end. This essay will further show how both stories shared similar endings, while at the same time
My life, although not without surprises and unusual events, is dictated by predictable and ordinary elements. However, through fiction I am transported into a world of boundless imagination and extraordinary themes. One such example is evident in my response to Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein. Through fiction, Shelley invites the reader to accept the extraordinary. Firstly, we are led to believe that Victor Frankenstein is able to create life by shocking it with electricity, and to this I responded with an imaginative curiosity. But it was the consequences of the creation provoked a stronger response from me. The element of horror Victor experiences and his reaction to the ‘god like’ qualities bestowed upon him as creator is truly extraordinary. Victor, like no other man, experiences the feeling of immense power and responsibility as creator of man, and this provoked a sympathetic response from me. Finally I also accepted and responded to the extraordinary concept of the monster, who, unlike to the majority of humanity, is created without a sense of cultural identity. Additionally, what is extraordinary to me as a reader is the humanity and intelligence the monster displays, despite the disadvantageous of his creation. This made me have sympathy for monster and served to blotch the credibility of Victor. Throughout the novel I was inclined to accept Shelley’s invitation and to explore a deeper view of humanity.
Due to King’s strange and frightening style of writing, the reader is left on the edge since they don't know what to expect when reading the literature of this unusual character. For example, in the text of, “Strawberry Spring”, the story begins in a normal and mellow tone until suddenly a fog hits. The next day the newspapers were drowned with the news that a woman, “had been murdered by her boyfriend”(King, “Strawberry Spring” 2). Accordingly, these actions are very frightening not only because they were unsuspected, but because they were performed by one lover to another. Also, the result of this horrifying incident is what we all dread, and that is death. As a result, this traumatising incident is “daring our nightmares”(King, “Why We Crave Horror, 1). Moreover, this story by King abides by his claim that we all view horror as a way to face our fears, and to show that we are not
These authors create exits for characters, which flow seamlessly with the preceding storylines. The concluding scenes of these novels, while similar in the suicide theme are worlds apart when viewed through direct evidence of the characters actual feelings and past. It is interesting to note that both are basically suicides, but one becomes a clear suicide while the other becomes a liberating jump into family heritage. By using evidence written in specifically for the readers, both of these authors make it very clear how their endings should be understood, so that finally all ends well, understood.
In the beginning of both of the pieces of literature, the main character(s) have not had the experience that will shape their values yet. Rather, as time moves forward in the stories, the
"The Loss of the Creature" starts off with the definition of beautiful, which is a key point throughout his essay. Next, he moves in to his example of a family of tourists, and their experience (through his eyes) at the Grand Canyon. He describes his theory of the sightseer, and the discoverer; "Does a single sightseer, receive the value of P, or only a millionth part of value P" (pg 1) Value P, being the experience, and the beauty in which that person collected. Following the sightseers was a couple who stumbled upon an undisturbed Mexican Village. The couple thoroughly enjoyed their first experience, but could not wait to return with their friend the ethnologist. When they did return with him, they were so caught up in what his reaction would be; there was a total loss of sovereignty. Due to their differences of interest in the village, the couples return trip was a waste. The second part of the essay includes a Falkland Islander who comes across a dead dogfish lying on the beach. Furthermore, he explains how a student with a Shakespeare sonnet, has no chance of being absorbed by a student due to the surrounding's or package of the class room. The two students are receiving the wrong messages, on one hand we have the biology student with his "magic wand" of a scalpel, and on the other hand the English student with his sonnet in its "many-tissued package". Both students are unaware of the real experience they could undergo, and the teacher might as well give the dogfish to the English student and the sonnet to the biology student because they will be able to explore and learn more within the different setting, and without the surroundings and expectations (pg 6).
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
of how John Steinbeck uses extraordinary circumstances to create appeal and realism to the reader.
No poet does a better job of stressing the abruptness of death as Frost in his poem, “Out, out –”. Death is the one of the more central themes among most works of art and normally befalls on the speaker’s loved one. In this case, “Out, out –” is about an innocent boy who accidentally severs his hand with a buzz saw; the entire scene and the family’s reactions described by an observer. Throughout the poem, Frost finds creative ways to intensify the boy’s death and readers may wonder why he focuses on such a heavy and distressing issue. Every verse builds up upon one another, sometimes enjambed together with a variety of figurative language, until the boy succumbs to his injury. By combining an irregular form of iambic pentameter with dark symbolism, Frost captures the inevitability of death and its cruel, unpredictable appearances.
...d in a way that may be unsettling for the reader, albeit innocuous. The ability of the narrator to demonstrate the “departure of the event” through his separated psyche offers a temporary relief for the reader as he safely witnesses the trauma of the speaker. The doubling of the reader and writer, however, complicates this, suggesting that the poem is a source of trauma in itself. The “uncanny” that is utilized in the poem serves as a form of psychoanalysis not only because it permits the reader to experience the trauma of the unsalvageable narrator in a way that perhaps allows reflexive reflection of the reader’s own trauma, but also because the reader is doubled with Poe, which positions the reader in the crisis of witnessing a new trauma. The result is that the poem illuminates certain aspects while consequently bestowing the burden of experience on the reader.
It is not the tragic subject matter of the text that is of primary interest - but rather the manner in which the plot is developed. The story line progresses as if the reader is "unpeeling an onion."