Pieces of a Novel Puzzle
“A novel or a collection of short stories?'; may be a question that a critic asks about Rattlebone. Maxine Clair portrays both arguments with her energetic writing style. A blend of random comments and many unique phrases intermix with the intense plot. Writing like this gives the reader a more relaxed state and the book seems more alive and real. In answer to the critique question, Maxine Clair is writing a novel because of an abundant supply of foreshadowing, a collection of narrators, a recurrence of characters, and a process commonly known to man as aging.
Suggesting that Rattlebone is in fact a novel, foreshadowing occurred in several places during the book. Clair uses this writing method by mentioning the name October Brown, partly because Brown is involved at the beginning and towards the end of the book. Ms. Brown became an important part of Irene’s life, not only by being one of the main reasons for her parents’ divorce, but also by helping Irene accomplish one of her goals. The time that occurred between these two events in the book connects Rattlebone and is a very good use of foreshadowing. Another example of Clair’s use of this writing method is the experience of the divorce between Irene’s parents. This long-term process displayed Irene’s parents as being unforgiving. At first his wife forgives James Wilson for the affair that he enjoyed with October Brown, but after a period of time, Pearl also had her share of the fall in their relationship. At this time, neither one of Irene’s parents would forgive the other nor make up with the other. This example again shows the use of foreshadowing by Clair by evolving the event over several chapters with different narrators.
Irene, the narrator in several different stages of the divorce between her parents, speaks her feelings of disgust and always tries to keep her parents’ relationship together. Another side of the story comes from October Brown’s landlord, Mrs. Pemberton. Mrs. Pemberton wants nothing to do with the affair and therefor tries to separate the two lovers. Irene takes the stage again and reveals to the reader subconsciously, that her father is the man having the affair. The use of two narrators, each having a different look at the situation, may seem confusing to the reader at first, but once the chapters are all read and the whole story gets across, it becomes apparent why the change in narration was necessary.
“The effect of the narrator's telling of this story upon the reader, as well as of the mariner's telling of his tale upon the wedding-guest, make narration itself fundamental (as it is in Frankenstein)” (Dr. Michael Rossington) Therefore, this essay will talk about the different narrators found in both literary works and its narrative structure.
There are also foreshadowing events that occurred during the story. One event in particular is when she is in art class and asked to draw a tree and she has difficulty in presenting her ideas until Mr. Freeman asks her to make a collage using random items. After putting the collage together, Mr. Freeman comments that it represents pain. Melinda has difficulty drawing details and life into her trees just like in her own life s...
They are lots of examples of foreshadowing in the text that relate to the moral “You should trust your instincts when things are not as they seem. When something looks too good to be true, it probably is.” For example I believe that the lady knew Billy was coming. When Billy rang the doorbell the Landlady answered the door almost instantly, nobody answers the door that quick unless you are expecting someone. She also said “ I’m so glad you appeared, I was beginning to worry” why would she say this? Unless she already knew he was coming. With the Landlady answering the door so quickly and her saying, she was beginning to worry that Billy wouldn't appear makes the reader believe that the Landlady already knew that Billy was coming. I also
Every time the family comes to a confrontation someone retreats to the past and reflects on life as it was back then, not dealing with life as it is for them today. Tom, assuming the macho role of the man of the house, babies and shelters Laura from the outside world. His mother reminds him that he is to feel a responsibility for his sister. He carries this burden throughout the play. His mother knows if it were not for his sisters needs he would have been long gone. Laura must pickup on some of this, she is so sensitive she must sense Toms feeling of being trapped. Tom dreams of going away to learn of the world, Laura is aware of this and she is frightened of what may become of them if he were to leave.
In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” a family of six set out on a vacation to Florida while an extremely dangerous criminal is on the loose. The family takes the grandmother, who is outraged that the family is traveling while The Misfit is scanning the countryside. Throughout the short story, O’Connor drops many hints to the reader, ultimately leading to the terrifying climax. Foreshadowing is more commonly noticed the second time a story is read as opposed to the first. Readers will pick up on the hints that foreshadow the events to come. Foreshadowing is used when grandmother mentions The Misfit in the opening paragraph, when grandmother dresses formally in case of an accident, and when the graves are noticed in the cottonfield.
Notably, the husband tries to bring Ann reassurance, but is unable to convey, “The husband sat in the chair beside her. He wanted to say something else. But there was no saying what it should be. He took her hand and put in his lap,” (52). As much as the husband longs to comfort his wife in this situation, he is not able because he is also muddled by the event. Like the baker, the husband can not verbally bring Ann the clarity she needs. However, Carver describes a different form of communication in the way the husband holds his wife hand. Sometimes human touch is the best way to communicate between one another, when words seem to be impossible. As Ann’s stress grows the best offer her husband can bring is for her to go home and take a bath. Both Ann and her husband find comfort in the normalcy of their home. Moreover, as Ann goes home to calm down she receives a phone call that leaves her and the reader in a state of disarray, “‘Yes,’ she said. ‘This is Mrs. Weiss. Is it about Scotty?’ she said. ‘Scotty,’ the voice said. ‘It is about Scotty,’ the voice said. ‘It has to do with Scotty, yes,’” (56). This exchange between Ann and the voice reveals the clarity Ann has wished for throughout the story. The voice repetition of “Scotty” hints at the theme of clear communication in the sense that the call has to do with her son. During the short story, Ann is desperate for word
In the beginning the narrator’s tone is derisive, as though he’s mocking Robert’s being blind. The narrator sees Robert as a nuisance, getting in the way of him and his wife, whose past relationships with Robert and other men seem to irritate the narrator. “Her officer – why should he have a name? he was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want? – came home from somewhere, found her, and called the ambulance,” (Carver 2). The narrator won’t give his wife’s ex-husband, which emits an angry or contempt feeling in the text.
For instance, foreshadowing takes place when, after shooting the doe, Andy runs away and “Charlie Spoon and Mac and her father crying Andy, Andy (but that wasn't her name, she would no longer be called that);” (338) this truthfully state that she no longer wanted to be called Andy, she wanted to be called Andrea. Finally, Andy realized she is at the stage of growing up so she depicts between the woods where she can be a male or the ocean where she can be a female. She chose to stay true to herself and become Andrea because “Andy” lost her innocence when she shot the doe. Another example of foreshadowing is when Charlie was having distrust that Andy should come with them because she is a girl. The allegation Charlie made can be an example of foreshadowing because of how Andy will never go hunting ever again because she hated killing doe and it hurt her to see the doe suffering. This resulted to Andy never wanting to kill doe ever again. She changes her nickname to Andrea, her real name, because that’s who she is. Andy must face the reality of death before she can grow up. Additionally, foreshadowing contributes the themes overall effect by explaining how Andy’s loss of innocence happened and how she realized she must grow
The second example of foreshadowing that really caught my eye was in the passage “they passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it.” In the story, John Wesley and June Star both find the graves interesting.... ... middle of paper ... ... Once I opened my mind and looked at it from a different perspective, I felt as if O’Connor wanted the story to continue after the grandmother’s death.
The narrator’s name is unknown through out the story, yet at the beginning the reader is given her husbands’ name (John), and the narrator’s identity through the novella is as John’s wife, who is dominated by John in their relationship. This effect created by Gillman masterfully establishes the lack of a female determined identity. He diagnoses her, and with the exception of her being tired and wanting to write, John continues to establish that her health is unwell. John is the dominant personality in the marriage he does not see her as an equal in their relationship. This is a wonderful tone and mood used to reflect the cultural norm at the time of Gillman's writing. She is not viewed as an equal, she is treated like and often referred to as being a child. When she decides that she likes a downstairs bedroom next to the nursery, John insists on her having the bedroom upstairs with the yellow wallpaper. The narrator/wife hates the color of the room and describes the color as “repellent, almost revolting” (432) When she asks for her husband to change the color, he decides to not give in to her wants, and the reader is informed that John, who knows best, does this for her benefit. It is reflective of a parent not wanting to give into their child's whims for fear the child will become spoiled and will expect to get everything they ask for. Though her husband belittles her, she still praises everything he does and sees everything he is doing for...
The final example of foreshadowing is Dr. Manette‘s ordeal with the Evremondes. Throughout the second book in the novel, Dr. Manette’s past was clouded. We get some foreshadowing when Darnay offers to reveal his name to Dr. Manette, but Dr. Manette says “Stop!” and we start to hint that there is more going on then meets the eye (126).
Each John, the narrator's husband in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Brently Mallard, Mrs. Mallard’s husband in “The Story of an Hour” and Henry Allen, Elisa Allen’s husband in “The Chrysanthemums” unknowingly lead their wives to a state of mental confinement through their actions taken that are meant to help them. John tells his wife to rest and not to think of her condition for the sake of him and the children which drove her mad because
The protagonist Hazel in ‘Yesterday’s Weather’ carries the insights of her slightly unhappy marriage and her motherhood. The story illustrates the occurrence of family gathering and how Hazel was affected by this particular trip. In this piece of the story, the readers will pick up on Hazel’s using the third person narration. “Third person limited point of view offers the thoughts and motivations of only one character” (Wilson, M & Clark, R. (n.d.)). That is to say, third person’s usage in the story is only able to give the set of emotion and actions. Therefore, limits the ability for the readers to see the insight of the other characters in the story.
Now that we have a little background on the author, we can take a closer look at the actual work and its characters. The two main characters of the story a narrator and her husband, John, and the story takes place in the 19th century. Life for the two is like most other marriages in this time frame, only the narrator is not like most other wives. She has this inner desire to be free from the societal roles that confine her and to focus on her writing, while John in content with his life and thinks that his wife overreacts to everything. Traditionally, in this era, the man was responsible for taking care of the woman both financially and emotionally, while the woman was solely responsible for remaining at home. This w...
The conflict continues in the next passage, “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away...