Analyzing Character
The short story “Premium Harmony” by Stephen King has such an unexpected ending. The reading keeps the reader guessing and thinking that they may know the ending but turns out differently. Stephen King chose an ordinary theme marriage about a man named Ray and his wife Mary who had been married for ten years. Ray and Mary’s lost their spark in this marriage overtime; and began to have disagreements and arguments, making it an unpleasant relationship between the two. What made this story so interesting is its unexpectedness. Both characters having addictive personalities; Ray addicted to cigarettes and Mary’s addiction to junk food. Ray displayed many more flaws with his failure to love, and lack of reaction making Ray’s
In the novel 11/22/63, Stephen King uses settings to describe a vivid atmosphere for the reader. As Jake travels throughout the novel, King brings life to the setting by taking Jake through a muggy Derry, a fictional town in Maine King happens to use in his other novels, as well as showing the characteristics of the citizens in Jodie, Texas where he experiences love and romance. Derry is used to portray a deeper grimmer city in Maine that King has referred to before and doing so in this novel to show the extant of uninviting scene that King portrays for us.
Mary Sue’s actions, at first scorned by her brother, now known as Bud, soon begin to change him, too. He leaves his unpopular, passionless existence behind, and finds the same pleasure in the discovery of passion as do the Pleasantville citizens. Mary Sue, who once scorned Bud for his love of Pleasantville’s depiction of a worry-free fifties life, now understands the virtues of that life; she begins reading and goes to college. Bud and Mary Sue chan...
a story that reflects the subordination of woman in marriage. By the time of the early
A character that was admirable in the novel “we all fall down” is John. John is the father of Will who is the main character, they spend nearly the entire story together looking for a way out of the world trade center during the 9/11 attacks. During the story you learn that John is very smart, brave, and respected. These are all characteristics which play a crucial role in saving lives such as his co-workers and a random lady they find on the way named ting, but mainly in the ending John and Will successfully escape.
Love, however, is not the only factor that creates and maintains a relationship. Love has the power to bring people together, but can also break them apart. In addition, it can lead to irrational decisions with terrible consequences. In this short story Margaret Atwood shows the powerful effect that love has on people’s lives. At first glance, the short stories in "Happy Endings" have a common connection: all the characters die.
At the beginning of the story, in plot “A”, John and Mary are introduced as a stereotypical happy couple with stereotypically happy lives of middle class folks. Words like “stimulating” and “challenging” are used repetitiously to describe events in thei...
Brockmeier’s short story represents a damaged marriage between a husband and a wife simply due to a different set of values and interests. Brockmeier reveals that there is a limit to love; husbands and wives will only go so far to continually show love for each other. Furthermore, he reveals that love can change as everything in this ever changing world does. More importantly, Brockmeier exposes the harshness and truth behind marriage and the detrimental effects on the people in the family that are involved. In the end, loving people forever seems too good to be true as affairs and divorces continually occur in the lives of numerous couples in society. However, Brockmeier encourages couples to face problems head on and to keep moving forward in a relationship. In the end, marriage is not a necessity needed to live life fully.
In “The Yellow Wall-paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the unnamed female protagonist is going through a rough time in her life. (For now on, this paper will refer to this unnamed character as the “the narrator in ‘Wall-paper,’” short for “The Yellow Wall-paper. The narrator is confined to room to a room with strange wall-paper. This odd wall-paper seems to symbolize the complexity and confusion in her life. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard must also deal with conflict as she must deal with the death of her spouse. At first there is grief, but then there is the recognition that she will be free. The institute of marriage ties the two heroines of these two short stories together. Like typical young women of the late 19th century, they were married, and during the course of their lives, they were expected to stay married. Unlike today where divorce is commonplace, marriage was a very holy bond and divorce was taboo. This tight bond of marriage caused tension in these two characters.
During the era in which these stories were written, marriages were an economic arrangement which had very little to do with love. In both stories, the couples seem to have an ideal marriage, which eventually turns to aloofness. This could be that ending a marriage during this time was unheard of.
This short story contains a lot more than meets the eye. The story itself is simple, yet there is much detail within. The commonality of a relationship gone awry is extensively written upon, but this piece glorifies the action that takes place by the individual who is suffering. This entices one to continue reading in order to uncover the resolution. Each sentence within the story has more to say than just what is on the surface helping to create the tension as one reads between the lines. The opposition in each characters words due to their dialogue leads them down two different paths; one which focuses on what the character is saying, and one which focuses on what is meant by what the character is saying. This enriches the story which is exciting and thought provoking to read.
The short stories “Souls Belated” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” have in common ‘Marriage’ as main theme. However, the marriage is treated quite differently in both short stories. In "Souls Belated", Lydia chooses to take control of her destiny, to deviate from conventions and to choose what is good for her. She is the strongest character of the couple. Whereas, in "The Yellow Wallpaper", the name of the main character who is also the narrator of the story is not known. She is identified as being John’s wife. This woman, contrary to Lydia in "Souls Belated" is completely locked up in her marriage. This essay will first describe and compare the characters of Lydia and John's wife in the context of marriage, and then it will look at how marriage is described, treated and experienced by couples in these two short stories.
Carson McCuller’s story “A Domestic Dilemma” depicts a family torn by both compassion and suffering. Martin, a loving and understanding husband must deal with his family’s problems. Martin’s wife, Emily, distraught by her new environment, initiates her family’s difficulties with her drinking habits. The story examines a family’s severe problems, and yet also illustrates the depth of love and loyalty that allows people to survive adversity. McCullers examines within the depth of one family how the full spectrum of love can destroy the romantics of love.
Is our love’s fidelity in question? In the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the sudden news of her loved one dying whisks Mrs. Mallard away to a whole new life that flashes before her, celebrating her newfound freedom. She realizes what life has brought upon her. In the end, whether celebrated or tumultuous, she completed the journey with fidelity.
“Carpe diem, seize the day (Dead Poets Society, 1989).” This very famous line speak volumes to many in Dead Poets Society but it speak to one main character in particular, Todd Anderson, a student at the Welton Academy. Anderson is attending his first year at Weden and is being hounded by his parents about being just like his older brother. Todd is extremely shy and when faced with an assignments that involve speaking in front of the class he is terrified. That is until he meets a new teacher, Mr. John Keating, that teaches him the meaning of the phrase “carpe diem.” Todd Anderson’s character develops throughout the movie from being a shy legacy, to a boy who finds his voice, and finally to man who understands loss and can stand up for it.
Most people link marriage with happiness. Seeing all the gleeful couples gives society hope that marriage is great. However, the novel Surfacing by Margaret Atwood contradicts this common belief. Through the theme of marriage displayed throughout the story the reader is revealed to the darker side of marriage, the side in which marriage is manipulative and deceiving. Through the symbolism of the barometer, the ring, and David and Anna’s relationship, the author is able to express the overall message of the story.