In LOTF William Goulding writes about a groups of young boys on an island and and how they desperately struggle for survival. The book points out the faults of man and how in a matter of weeks we can revert to savagery man again, reversing thousands of years of work. Goulding uses selective diction, imagery, and polysyndeton to convey the quick and violent change of civilized man back into a savage man. Goulding uses diction to first explain the view of Jack’s new mask when he says, “[Jack] looked in astonishment no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger” (53). Focusing on the words “awesome stranger” that Goulding selected he described his new wave of emotions that flew over him as “astonishment” or amazement of the “stranger” or an unknown person. The mask is so powerful to Jack and so pervasive to him that he himself becomes a stranger to his eyes, one that allows himself to be masked and a different human that the one he knows. …show more content…
He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarl” (53). Goulding used the words “sinewy”, “appalled”, and “bloodthirsty” to picture the descent into savage form and the power that the camouflage of the mask gave Jack. The word sinewy describes a long and thin string, a muscle fiber or tendon from an animal, giving Jack the appearance of a thin, tall, boy, yet with the mask becomes an appalling and bloodthirsty monster. The words appalling describe a horrendous sight, while bloodthirsty describes an animal out for blood, like an apex predator. A usual human does not fall into either of these categories as no matter how you look, no one is appalling and in civilized society humans do not go out looking for
Richard’s own identity, as well as his personal identification of others, is formed through language. For example, in Richard’s encounter with the Yankee, Richard used language to fill in the “yawning, shameful gap.” He used personification to emphasize the awkwardness of their conversation. This awkwardness was a result of the Yankee’s probing questions. Richard described it as an “unreal-natured” conversation, but, paradoxically, he also admits, “of course the conversation was real; it dealt with my welfare.”
In the novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author, by way of vivid imagery and a tense mood, places the timing of the death of one significant character, Simon, at a pivotal point in the novel in order to display his opinion on the natural state of man. Closer to the end of the novel, Golding creates a dramatic atmosphere through the use of weather, just before Simon passes. Using vivid imagery, the sky is described as having “great bulging towers [of clouds] that sprouted away over the island . . . The clouds were sitting on the land; they squeezed [out] tormenting heat” (151). At this point,
Consequently, it is revealed through foreshadowing that some of the general’s tactics may be a result of a cannibalistic nature. In the text the author labels Zarroff’s kind as savages: “I’m afraid like all his race a bit of a savage”(6). Before the generals cannibalistic nature is unveiled, the author begins to reveal the blood-curdling reality of this desolate, dreary, and daunting island by foreshadowing the “savage” ways of the
As the sweltering, hot sun signified the start of a scorching afternoon, a young boy lay in the fields harvesting vegetables for another family. He had been enslaved to perform chores around the house for the family, and was only given very few privileges. While his stomach throbbed with pangs of hunger, he continued cooking meals for them. After the family indulged in the cozy heat from the fireplace, he was the one to clean the ashes. Despite his whole body feeling sore from all the rigorous work he completed, the young boy had been left alone to suffer. As months passed by, he desired independence. He wanted to cook his own food, make his own fire, harvest his own plants and earn money. The lad soon discovered that he needed faith and courage to break away from his restricted environment. When put in a suppressive situation, every person has the aspiration to escape the injustice. This is what Harrison Bergeron and Sanger Rainsford do to liberate themselves from the external forces that govern their lives. Harrison, the main character of “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a strong, fourteen year old boy whose talents have been concealed by the government. Growing up in an environment where equality has restricted people’s thinking, Harrison endeavors to change society’s views. Rainsford, the main character of “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell, is a skilled hunter who believes that animals were made to be hunted; he has no sympathy for them. Stranded on island with a killer chasing him, he learns to make rational choices. While both Harrison and Ranisford are courageous characters, Rainsford’s prudence enables him to overpower his enemy, whereas Harrison’s impulsive nature results in him being ...
The narrator's life is filled with constant eruptions of mental traumas. The biggest psychological burden he has is his identity, or rather his misidentity. He feels "wearing on the nerves" (Ellison 3) for people to see him as what they like to believe he is and not see him as what he really is. Throughout his life, he takes on several different identities and none, he thinks, adequately represents his true self, until his final one, as an invisible man.
The novel can be viewed as a religious, biblical, or a psychological allegory. This essay helps support the idea of the novel being a psychological
Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. An Introduction to Literature. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006.
The reader is put in the middle of a war of nerves and will between two men, one of which we have grown up to learn to hate. This only makes us even more emotional about the topic at hand. For a history book, it was surprisingly understandable and hard to put down. It enlightened me to the complex problems that existed in the most memorable three months this century.
2nd ed. of the book. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center -. Web.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
In Night, he informs his reader of many examples on how a myriad of good people turn into brutes. They see horrific actions, therefore, they cannot help by becoming a brute. They experience their innocent family members being burned alive, innocent people dieing from starvation due to a minuscule proportion of food, and innocent people going to take a shower and not coming out because truly, it is a gas chamber and all f...
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
...mselves at her.... Roger ran around the heap... Jack was on top of the sow stabbing downwards with his knife.... The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her” (135). Indeed, the gruesome description is reserved for Jack and Roger; however, it is clear that all the hunters are vehemently piled on top of the sow as they are killing it with ubiquitous violence. In short, humans are elementally violent and Golding expresses this with vivid descriptions of the boys' vigour in several violent situations.
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Jackson, Geoffrey. The “Moral Dimensions of ‘The Thorn.’” Wordsworth Circle. 10 (1979): 91-96. Mermin, Dorothy.