Importance of Mountains in Kerouac's Dharma Bums and Barthelme's The Glass Mountain
Mountains are significant in the writing of Jack Kerouac and Donald Barthelme as symbolic representations of achievement and the isolation of an individual from the masses of the working class in industrialized capitalist American society. The mountains, depicted by Kerouac and Barthelme, rise above the American landscape as majestic entities whose peaks are touched by few enduring and brave souls. The mountains of Kerouac's The Dharma Bums symbolize personal freedom and accomplishment through achieving a connection with nature distant from the constraints of materialism and a polluted industrialized American society. Barthelme's "Glass Mountain," however, envisions a mountain removed from nature as a modern skyscraper office building, an edifice that embodies the degradation of an emerging American society in the 1960s that is in search of "the American Dream" through material or monetary gains. "The Glass Mountain" remarks on the movement of Americans away from nature, religion, and humanity as they look to false golden idols (the golden castle at the top of the mountain) for inspiration to be successful, while Kerouac's The Dharma Bums emphasizes a return to nature and devout religiousness to inspire virtues of charity, kindness, humility, zeal, tranquility, wisdom, and ecstasy (p. 5). The top of the mountain, for both authors, represents a fearful ascent from the masses of the working class huddled in polluted cities in order to achieve a heightened state of knowledge and success, but both explorers fall short of true fulfillment because they are never far removed from human flaws of greed, excess, and materia...
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...est of the world from the top is better than actually doing it. The mountains also represent the struggle of the lower classes in American society to achieve wealth for the sake of happiness and fulfillment. What Americans seeking wealth do not realize is that the top is a lonely place, devoid of the longing for material possession that keeps them going in life. The thrill of climbing the mountain, or the corporate ladder, is always more rewarding than looking down from the top to see the ugliness of the city below and regretting that they must return to this ugliness of competition and greed in order to sustain their own pitiful human existence.
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Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Penguin., 1976.
In a well-written short story, different literary elements and terms are incorporated into the story by the author. Ernest Hemingway frequently uses various literary elements in his writing to entice the reader and enhance each piece that he writes. In Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses symbols to teach the reader certain things that one may encounter during daily life. Symbolism may be defined as relating to, using, or proceeding by means of symbols (Princeton). The use of symbols in Hills Like White Elephants is utterly important to the plot line and to the fundamental meaning of the story. Through this use of symbolism, the reader can begin to reveal the hidden themes in this short story.
(“Facts about mountains for kids”) This is not a solid definition of mountains, but it is a general statement. Mountains typically have steep, sloping sides and sharp peaks. (“Facts about mountains for kids”) With these sloping sides come different levels to a mountain. The lowest level are the broadleaf forests then the middle slopes that are colder and have conifer trees. The next level of tree growth is called the timberline, then there are alpine plants, and finally at the very top there is nothing but snow covered rocks. (Simon, Seymour. pg.23 ) With every different level, there comes different plant and wildlife. The elevation also determines the human population, because the higher up the mountain you go the less oxygen; therefore, you will probably feel dizzy and short of breath. (Simon, Seymour pg. 25) Humans can climb mountains such as Everest, but few to none live there full time because of the reduction of oxygen. Mountains influence environments and are important to
Meinke, Peter. “Untitled” Poetry: An Introduction. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s 2010. 89. Print
Throughout the story the author used objective point of view, symbolism, and irony to illustrate the theme that life and death decisions will negatively affect relationships. Going through with the abortion would have caused much grief for Jig but I believe the man would have been able to get over it much easier. She saw the ugliness of the barren valley and was slowly realizing what a mistake she’d make if she wasn’t able to enjoy the lushness of her fertility. In my opinion I believe Jig was smart enough or at least convicted enough not to go through with the abortion.
The spaces of the American West are far from uniform, in fact, they could be considered the complete opposite. This variety is what makes the West stand apart from the rest of the United States. The lack of a more common landscape and culture, such as in the American East, provides the backdrop for a plethora of Literary prowess from authors like Jack Kerouac and Douglas Coupland, who saw the American West as the perfect setting for two of the most influential novels of our time. The wide open road was just as much of an inspiration to Kerouac as the concrete megalopolises of malls, fast food, and tracts homes were to Coupland. Western culture would be fraction of what it is today if not for its exceptional diversity among space.
Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
The history of baseball has made cultures in America come together more than any other sport. It brings cities together to watch a common game known as “The American Pastime”, but the game is changing along with the world around us. Are the changes good or bad? One thing is for sure through all this. Baseball has become interesting along with being informative.
(Preview) By the end of this speech, you will have a better understanding of the preparation and the steps that go into baking, as well as a great recipe for chocolate chip cookies that you can try at home.
The game of baseball became much more accessible to the fans and opened up a whole new way of visualizing the game, beginning in 1921. In August of 1921, the first Major League baseball game was broadcast over the radio. It was between the Pittsburg Pirates and the Philadelphia (HistoricBaseball.com1). Although the game was broadcast by Grantland Rice, he was not actually at the game. He was simply giving the reports over the radio as they were sent to him by telegraph from the actual game. This style of commentating lasted well into the 1930’s. However, this era finally began to see a downturn with the introduction of Major League Baseball on television.
“The Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that is about an American man and a girl called Jig. They are sitting at a table outside a train station, waiting for a train to Madrid. While they wait they order drinks and have a heated ongoing conversation over whether or not Jig will have an operation that would be of great significance to their relationship. “The Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway has two important symbols in the story, the hills and the drinks both of which help to give us a better understanding of what is going on between the American and his girl.
For centuries, baseball has changed drastically whether it be the players, teams, records, and all the like. While all things change though, and
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But in the use of the term “technology” today, there is far more associated meaning than automobiles or washing machines. It has ushered in an entirely new way of working, and in increasing numbers of organizations, increased options of just where work associated with a particular job will be done. More employees than ever have the option of working at home yet still being employed either full...