The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
The character of Ben Lovatt in Doris Lessing's "The Fifth Child" is
one that is very powerful, and also extremely interesting. He is
violent, and unbelievably strong, yet he would not be able to fend for
himself in the "big, bad World". Doris Lessing's use of a very
effective mixture of characterisation, symbolism and language use
result in a very intriguing and fascinating novel.
At the start of the novel, the reader is lulled into a sense of
happiness and perfection in the lives of Harriet and David. The
description of the house that they buy gives the impression that they
have lots of positive plans for the future. When the house is being
described, there is a short but very effective sentence, at the end of
the paragraph:
"Full of space for children, in fact"
This does not say that they plan to have children, but it simply
suggests.
The feeling of happiness and eternal bliss seems to continually get
stronger and stronger. A major sign of this happiness is the regular
family get-togethers held at the Lovatt's house. These are attended by
a large number of people, and all of them have a great time. The
rapture continues throughout the lives of the family, and is amplified
by 4 "little bundles of joy" becoming new additions to the family.
From the descriptions of when the whole family is over, the scene can
easily be pictured, with a large family around the large table in the
house, all gathered together having a great time. Doris Lessing uses
good language to create this image of happiness.
However, when Harriet becomes pregnant for the fifth time, it is
apparent, from the sta...
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...s a real
"monster" and gets involved in robberies and riots, and becomes a real
"menace to society".
At the end of the novel, Harriet ponders this strange offspring of the
otherwise idyllic middle-class family. Who, or what, was Ben? Beast,
goblin, throwback, alien, or a "normal healthy fine baby"? Everyone
had different opinions on what Ben was. No-one could quite give
Harriet the answer she was looking for; no matter how hard she
searched. Doris Lessing deals with these questions without ever quite
managing to answer them. She explores the conditions of human
acceptance, and what is deemed "normal", and how things that do not
match this are treated. Doris Lessing is insistent throughout the
novel that Ben is something other than human, by using very negative
language and showing very negative viewpoints on Ben.
The social group of women is often focused on by Gwen Harwood within Selected Poems of Gwen Harwood through the themes of motherhood and domestic life which play an integral role in many of her poems. These themes define a stereotypical role for women representing them as subordinate in a patriarchal society through a range of her poems such as In the Park, The Violets and Prize Giving. Harwood portrays women as subservient and inferior, with the main purpose to be household mothers and wives which was based on society’s expectations during Harwood’s time however her later poems such as Father and Child develop to contain hope for societal progression through occasionally defying these stereotypes.
1. In the book, the father tries to help the son in the beginning but then throughout the book he stops trying to help and listens to the mother. If I had been in this same situation, I would have helped get the child away from his mother because nobody should have to live like that. The father was tired of having to watch his son get abused so eventually he just left and didn’t do anything. David thought that his father would help him but he did not.
The novel “The Orphan Train” written by Christina Baker Kline is a fictional portrayal of a young girl who migrated to America from Ireland, and found herself orphaned at the age of ten in New York City in the year 1929. The book tells the story of the pain and anguish she suffered, and the happiness she would later find. From the mid 1850’s through the early 1900’s there was an surge of European immigrants just like Niamh and her family who came to America in search of a better life. Unfortunately, most were not as prosperous as they had hoped to be. As a result, many poverty-stricken children were left orphaned, abandoned, and homeless. They roamed the streets looking for food, money, and refuge by any means necessary. Since there
In her novel The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey looks at how history can be misconstrued through the more convenient reinterpretation of the person in power, and as such, can become part of our common understanding, not being true knowledge at all, but simply hearsay. In The Daughter of Time Josephine claims that 40 million school books can’t be wrong but then goes on to argue that the traditional view of Richard III as a power obsessed, blood thirsty monster is fiction made credible by Thomas More and given authenticity by William Shakespeare. Inspector Alan Grant looks into the murder of the princes in the tower out of boredom. Tey uses Grant to critique the way history is delivered to the public and the ability of historians to shape facts to present the argument they believe.
Inside Toyland, written by Christine L. Williams, is a look into toy stores and the race, class, and gender issues. Williams worked about six weeks at two toy stores, Diamond Toys and Toy Warehouse, long enough to be able to detect patterns in store operations and the interactions between the workers and the costumers. She wanted to attempt to describe and analyze the rules that govern giant toy stores. Her main goal was to understand how shopping was socially organized and how it might be transformed to enhance the lives of workers. During the twentieth century, toy stores became bigger and helped suburbanization and deregulation. Specialty toy stores existed but sold mainly to adults, not to children. Men used to be the workers at toy stores until it changed and became feminized, racially mixed, part time, and temporary. As box stores came and conquered the land, toy stores started catering to children and offering larger selections at low prices. The box stores became powerful in the flip-flop of the power going from manufacturers to the retailers. Now, the retail giants determine what they will sell and at what price they will sell it.
Imagine knowing how you would die. Paranoia? Schizophrenia? Insomnia? All of these feelings would set in as you sat waiting to be the next victim. Ten Little Indians, published as And Then There Were None when it débuted in America, brought a wonderful sense of mystery into the life of the American. Written by Agatha Christie, it was published in 1939 as a fiction murder mystery. The story is set on an island off the coast of Devon, England during the thirties. Ten Little Indians is a classic murder mystery, which involves ten unsuspecting average people. While it seems that one of these people would be the main character, everyone is equally important in shaping the story.
One of the central themes in writing of the second generation Asian Americans is the search of identity and individual acceptance in American society. In the last few decades, many Asian Americans have entered a time of increased awareness of their racial and cultural identity built on their need to establish their unique American identity. In the book The Joy Luck Club, which revolves around four mother-daughter Asian American families whose mothers migrated from China to America and raised their daughters as Americans, we see the cultural struggle and differences by looking at their marriages, suffering and sacrifice, and their use of language in the novel.
What is in the spring of your life if the spring of a life refers to your first twenty years in your life? The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel by Silvia Plath, describes Esther Greenwood’s harsh spring of her life. Narrating in the first person, Esther tells her experience of a mental breakdown in a descriptive language, helping the readers visualize what she sees and feel her emotions. The novel takes place in New York City and Boston during the early 1950s when women’s roles were limited to domesticity. The repression of women’s roles in the American society during the 1950s and other influences such as her lack of confidence, her hesitance, her mother, and her feminist point of view seem to affect her mental breakdown.
On January 14th of 1963, Sylvia Plath had finally completed The Bell Jar after approximately two years of writing. This novel could have been considered a partial autobiography, because the main character Esther Greenwood eerily represents Sylvia Plath. There are a number of references to Plath’s real life throughout the book, too many for it to be considered a mere coincidence. Within the story, Esther Greenwood considers and attempts suicide quite frequently. Could this novel have been foreshadowing Sylvia’s death, which took place a little less than a month after?
There are many policy issues that affect families in today’s society. Hunger is a hidden epidemic and one major issue that American’s still face. It is hard to believe that in this vast, ever growing country, families are still starving. As stated in the book Growing Up Empty, hunger is running wild through urban, rural, and even suburban communities. This paper will explore the differing perspectives of the concerned camp, sanguine camp, and impatient camp. In addition, each camps view, policy agenda, and values that underlie their argument on hunger will be discussed.
The American Dream has never been available to minority citizens as easily as it is to American-born citizens. Affirmative action was first implemented around the year 1972, however it was not widely accepted or practiced. During this time society was just getting used to including women in higher education institutions so the concept of including minorities in higher education was almost non-existent. My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor shows the challenges that a first generation, Puerto Rican, lower socioeconomic female had during this time. Through her autobiography she shows the struggles she faced throughout her life, focusing on her application to college, college experience and insight into her cultural background. My Beloved World present the ideology of White Supremacy and other phenomenon’s such as structural inequality, and socioeconomic inequality that interfere with Sonia’s inability to receive preparation for college and these things show the that America has not made good on its promise of equal opportunity for all.
This is a great story Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich has everything you would ever want in a novel. When first just touching the novel my eyes were singed by the title and short summary. In short words I assumed that I would utterly despise the book. As I read the book it became more than enjoyable with the non-subtle sexual references, cursing, and violence. Ten Big Ones, Ten Grand, Ten Thousand Buck is what you could win as the hero at the end of the story. The theme is gang related crime will indubitably fall. The star of the novel is Stephanie Plum, resident of Trenton, NJ. She is a bounty hunter not armature but also not professional. She is deciding on lunch at the deli or sub shop, while at the shop Plum and her partner slash file clerk, they see the infamous Red Devil robbing a deli mart and attempting to throw an alcohol bomb. Plum goes near halfway though book looking for him until she finds out that there is a hit on her. The hit is not for money but for power for the Junkman originally based in LA but has moved to Trenton to take a place of power in Slayer one of the two top gangs in the city. Her: over protective, off and on boy friend does everything he can to keep. Throughout the book while Plum hunted for the Devil and she was also hunted, Stephanie took her grandmother and Lula the file clerk to pick up people like Sally a drag queen, performer, government worker. Sally became a more important character than thought after. He’s stays to plan her sister wedding, but he is the hero after pushing through with his school bus and Uzi killing a large amount of Slayer.
How would one feel and behave if every aspects of his or her life is controlled and never settled. The physical and emotional wrought of slavery has a great deal of lasting effect on peoples judgment, going to immense lengths to avoid enslavement. In the novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison uses the characters adversity to expose the real struggles of slavery and the impact it has on oneself and relationships. Vicariously living through the life of Sethe, a former slave who murdered one of her kids to be liberated from the awful life of slavery.
Our world is often referred to as our home. We need it to survive, and it provides us with the resources that we need to live our lives as comfortably as we do. Yet, we don’t often take the time to consider our impact on our environment. Let’s say our earth is “literally” a house, could you live in a home that has been routinely and permanently damaged, sprayed full of insecticides, and even torn apart for someone’s personal use? This Idea is represented in Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”.
...igued with the raptures of his wife” (9). Their children provide them with companions as well as people to take their sides. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s relationship revolves around their children because without them, they would have an impossible time living alone together.