Although cliché, the title I chose best summarizes the theme of Gunga Din into a simple phrase. Though Gunga Din was insulted and abused by the queens regiment, his life saving deed best reflected the character of Din. The narrator's portrayal of Din changes at a point in the story where the actions of their water boy tell the reader what kind of person Din truly was. The waterless climate created an intense desperation for water, which gave Din the opportunity to do something completely unselfish for the good of another. Din was obviously inferior to the narrator, but he had motives other than obligation to lend a helping hand to his superior. The theme is emphasized by the fact the actions of Din show the reader what type of person he is more than the narrator's initial degrading representation.
The reason that the insulting remarks of the narrator to first describe Din influence the theme of this story/poem is very simple. Very harsh words were used to describe him, but they are not as significant as his actions were in analyzing his personality. His position in their military regiment gave the narrator a sense that he was a better man than Din. Although he still wasn't respected, he became very indispensable to the crew. The reason for his conditional importance is because of the intense heat of the climate of the setting, which is India, makes him a necessity because the members of this congregation of slaughterers scarcely had a resource for water. Their throats were often dry, and they reminisced about gin and beer. This creates an excellent opportunity for Din to show his true character which is the backbone for the theme of this literary work.
The live saving antics of Din influence the direction in which the theme takes because of the importance of this act of unselfishness. This particular battle was being fought at night, and with bullets flying by, the narrator was battling the thirst and the enemy, when he took a bullet that should have been deflected by his belt buckle. This warrior's hope was fading out when good ol' Din spied him out and engaged in a very respectable endeavor. The test tells that he applied pressure to his wounds, and gave the narrator an unforgettable memory of drinking Din's stagnant green water. The reason this was such an unforgettable swig is not because of the repulsiveness of the water, but because it probably saved his life, and it was the most appreciated of any drink he'd ever taken.
...ivilian running from war. Kamara’s story is mostly of her own life and how she survived the war, which does inform the world about how the war is to a young child and the importance of morals. However, Beah’s story includes the lives of many people he met that were involved in war. His story left a deep impression on a young teenager. All stories can be informing, but those that contain the true and insightful view of the author can create influences to a diverse audience.
Through the boy's’ actions the author shows us the necessity of leadership, for example “Turning their own heads, looking at each other, each expecting the other to do something” (Heynen 1). If they had thought about it, or one boy had stood up and done something then the rest would know what to do and follow along. Further along in the story one of the boys has the idea to use his coat “rounding the back of it over them [pheasants] like a shell” (Heynen 1), then the rest of them did the exact same. A theme in this story could be, sometimes helping the helpless is worth the
It is true that the voyage down the river has many aspects of a boy’s idyll. We owe much of its hold upon our imagination to the enchanting image of the raft’s unhurried drift with the current, the beauty of the river-all these things delight us...Then, of course, there is humor-- laughter so spontaneous, so free of bitterness present almost everywhere, grim a spectacle
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
Life does not always work out the way it should. Sometimes good loses, and the better man is the one begging. The Water is Wide is the story of injustice abounding. While the story may have been more appealing if Pat were able to stay on at Yamacraw Island, and I would certainly have enjoyed it more if the superintendent had been beaten, that story would have been a false picture of reality, worthy only of a children's bedtime collection. I...
Conflict is an important part of any short story. The short story, “On the Sidewalk Bleeding,” contains three major conflicts: man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. himself. In this essay, I intend to explain, prove, and analyze these three struggles.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval poem by an unknown author, written in Middle English in the 14th century. This poem is uncanny to most poems about heroism and knightly quests as it doesn’t follow the complete circle seen in other heroism tales. This poem is different to all the rest as it shows human weaknesses as well as strengths which disturbs the myth of the perfect knight, or the faultless hero. The author uses symbolism as a literary device in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to give the plot a deeper and more significant meaning. Symbolism is used to emphasise the difference of this heroism story against others and therefore symbolism is of great importance in this poem. The importance of the following symbols will be discussed in this paper; the pentangle, the colour green, the Green Knight, the exchange of winnings game, the axe and the scar. This paper argues the significance of the use of symbolism as a literary device in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The Arabian Nights is a collection of fictional stories of ages past. The book in itself contains many variations of plots, scenes, story elements, and characters. Honing in onone of the many, the focus of this dissertation is to present a scene in The Talking Bird, the Singing Tree, and the Golden Water. The scene in question is of Perizade, one of three main characters, successfully gathering all three items and saving all of the men who tried their hand at the task before her. This scene is a clear example of how women can match men eye for eye and succeed in areas that men cannot.
Everyone has the tendency to think or act immaturely when something does not happen the way they wanted it to. How people behave and develop in such situations can uncover hidden sides and the true inner self of their character. The changes that occur to them through conflict can depict how mature they really are. Nazneen Sadiq’s story “Shonar Arches” shows the impact on a character’s maturity as a result of the main conflict. The happy resolution of Amit’s conflict shows how through time, even a rude little boy can mature into becoming a gentleman.
Another attribute to the story is the insight which the third person narrator offers to the reader regarding the sailors' state of mind. Particularly interesting, is the reference to the poem "Bingen on the Rhine". Until the correspondent must contemplate his own death on the cold and desolate seas, he does not realize the tragedy of a soldier of the legion dying in Algiers. Also, not only did he not realize the significance, he says that, "it was less to him than the breaking of a pencil's point"(385). Again, towards the end of the story, the narrator describes the bitterness the correspondent feels towards nature when he realizes that after all his efforts he may not live to appreciate his being. Observations such as these are not encountered frequently until confronted with death and the conveyance of these thoughts is insightful and meaningful to the reader.
In “The Secret Lion,” Alberto Alvaro Rios establishes the theme as loss of innocence in a young boy. The narrator brings to life a boy who must leave behind his youthful perceptions about girls, the arroyo, and his green haven. All preconceptions are shattered, and each glimpse of bliss is taken away. Through this the boy gains perspective, and begins to see the world with a new awareness. Rios ingrains the loss of innocence theme through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy who exhibits maturity, autonomy, and disillusionment.
The combination of parallelism and antithesis along with symbolism littered throughout the story help transform the novel from a story of war and defeat to a tale of peace and triumph in romantic literary tradition (McCarron and
...ing predators. Now their descendants are demure, domesticated felines who live sedentary lives. Just as the face of the hero has changed for both man and feline over time, so have their desires. A desire for wonton material gain has formed. Thus, the peril of recklessly desiring the material is something Gray cautions the reader about. Fate, who used to guide hardened warriors into battle for righteousness, has become spiteful of having to be at the beck and call of those who pursue useless desires. This is why “Malignant Fate sat by and smiled” when Selima drowned. She has severed the ties to those who are not worthy of fate, and Gray warns the reader that if you do not prioritize your wants and needs as a human being, you too may face your death. Gray’s use of the mock epic then reflects upon the mockery of current human priorities compared to those of long ago.
The story’s theme is related to the reader by the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The symbols used to impart this theme to the reader and range from the obvious to the subtle. The obvious symbols include the time from the sinking to arrival on shore as a voyage of self-discovery, the four survivors in the dinghy as a microcosm of society, the shark as nature’s random destroyer of life, the sky personified as mysterious and unfathomable and the sea as mundane and easily comprehended by humans. The more subtle symbols include the cigars as representative of the crew and survivors, the oiler as the required sacrifice to nature’s indifference, and the dying legionnaire as an example of how to face death for the correspondent.
This conflict, although very real, is more about man’s ability to persevere and realize that nature simply exists with no evil intent, that in the scheme of the universe, man’s significance should not be based upon supposed supremacy. The intensity of the conflict with nature is shown with each stroke of the oars, each crash of the waves, and each bucket of water that is thrown overboard as the life boat takes on water. It is in the brutal reality of this setting that Crane acknowledges the setting as the antagonist within this tale. Nature bombards the lifeboat with a constant assault; the men are driven by the need to persevere in order to stay alive. As a result, there are moments in which a sense of fatalism can be seen as the Captain remarks, “If we don’t all get ashore – if we don’t all get ashore, I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my finish?” (344). These are crucial moments depicting that no matter the dedication and will to survive this ordeal, the lives of the men are still dependent upon the aspect of Nature being accommodating. It becomes an inner conflict against fatalism and the external conflict against nature.