Carol Shields's novel “Unless” describes a story of Reta Winters, a happy and successful 44-year-old writer who married a doctor, Tom, for 26 years, and has three lovely daughters in her family. Her life should be perfect until her eldest daughter Norah drops out of university and begs on a street corner in Toronto with a hand-lettered sign around her neck that says a word "Goodness." The novel is written in Reta’s first person, readers will have a direct vision on how her thinking changes, how she become more matured after Norah’s leaving home, and how she thinks, communicates and interacts with other characters such as her husband Tom, her other daughters, her friends, and her writing career. In this essay, analysis and discussions Reta’s …show more content…
She only realizes that she never spent much time with her children when she bought the scarf for Norah; but, there is no doubt that Reta loves her daughter very much and scarifies a lot to them. She says to Christine when she finds out her cigarettes: “When I was pregnant with you, Chris, I never had a drop of wine for nine months. I never took so much as an aspirin. I drank three glasses of milk, every day, and you know I hate milk. I wanted you to be healthy. (73)” Unfortunately, that is how difficult woman writers have to balance out between their career and their family. They want to develop their writing career like men’s do, they wants to put whole attention into their writing career, but they have to leave out energies for their family, their children, and …show more content…
Her children are bounded to her, from her perspective. Children to her, are not just blood hood; her actions and emotions moves along with them. While Norah was disappeared, she feels the most grief that she ever experienced; She drove as fast as she can in the icy road while she heard Norah is in the hospital. She worried while Natalie is having trouble sleeping; Christine is falling behind in math. Of course, Tom, their father concerns on their children too, but he obviously has less thinking on taking care of children while he has no idea on Christine’s cigarettes and studies. He did puts more strength into his career compared to Reta: he has to deal with phone calls to the company while they are in the hospital with Norah, but he is also a comfort to Reta even they did not share many talks in the novel. Reta is independent on writing, she is successful gaining different rewards and producing great writings. However, behind the scene, in her real life, she is fragile and mostly is led by Tom. While Tom looks into whether Norah has suffered some sort of trauma, Reta speculates that she has begun to perceive the limits of her gender. “A deterioration has occurred to the fabric of the world, the world that does not belong to her as she has been told
The book Blind, written by Rachel DeWoskin, is about a highschool sophomore named Emma, who went blind after being struck in the face with a firework. When she first lost her sight, Emma was placed in a hospital for over 2 months, and once she was released, she could finally go home again. DeWoskin uses the characterization of Emma throughout the beginning of the text to help the reader understand the character’s struggle more. Especially in the first few chapters, it was difficult for Emma to adapt to a world without sight. For instance, DeWoskin writes, “And sat down, numb, on our gold couch. And tried to open my eyes, rocked, counted my legs and arms and fingers. I didn’t cry. Or talk” (DeWoskin 44). As a result of losing a very important scent, she’s started to act differently from a person with sight.
The Power of an Author Authors have the ability justify the worst actions. Authors have a way of romanticizing certain situations in order to convey a specific message. A good author has power to influence the reader into believing whatever it is the author wants. When it comes to the story of Hannah Dustan, authors such as John Greenleaf Whittier have romanticized her captivity story along with the actions she took throughout her journey. Introducing a character that will be seen in the story is one of the most vital parts when creating a piece of literature.
Erdich , Louise “The Red Convertible” 1984.Schalfel and Ridl 126 – 133. Schakel, Pete, and Jack Ridl. Eds. Approaching Literature Reading + Thinking + Writing. 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford/ St Martin, 2011. Sprint.
perceive the novel in the rational of an eleven-year-old girl. One short, simple sentence is followed by another , relating each in an easy flow of thoughts. Gibbons allows this stream of thoughts to again emphasize the childish perception of life’s greatest tragedies. For example, Gibbons uses the simple diction and stream of consciousness as Ellen searches herself for the true person she is. Gibbons uses this to show the reader how Ellen is an average girl who enjoys all of the things normal children relish and to contrast the naive lucidity of the sentences to the depth of the conceptions which Ellen has such a simplistic way of explaining.
In the short story, “Until Gwen” by Dennis Lehane, it starts off with the main character named Bobby who is getting picked up by his father from prison with a stolen Dodge Neon. His father wasn’t alone, he brought himself a company and it was a hooker named Mandy. We got a sense of who his father was, a “professional thief, a consummate con man” (647). We don’t know why he was in prison until the rest of the story slowly reveals the flashbacks he has with his girlfriend Gwen and the incident prior of going to jail. Bobby has no sense of who he is or where he is from because there no proof of record of him such as a birth certificate. After meeting Gwen, his life has changed and felt the sense of belonging into the world he is living in. Bobby’s
“The future belongs to the curious. The ones, who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it and turn it inside out” –Unknown. Throughout the novel, the author, Erin Bowman, shows that curiosity is found to be unfortunate which influences people to break rules, since it was not always meant to be pursued. Being too curious can lead to complications, new innovations and discovering private knowledge.
Because of the life that Christine leads, the role of mother and daughter are switched and Rayona often finds herself watching out for her mom. When Ray comes home from school, she would often learn that her mother had gone out to party. Times like this meant that Rayona had to care for herself. It is not uncommon for one to stay out late; but when it is the parent who is doing so, one must question the responsibility of the person. When Christine leaves the hospital, Rayona shows up and helps prevent a potential disaster. She realizes what her mother plans to do, and that her mom will not crash the car with her on board. While Christine is not very reliable, she has no wish to hurt Rayona either; Ray's prediction was correct. As a child, Rayona must fulfill more obligations than a normal teen. Over the time that leads to her abandonment, Rayona begins to feel displaced from her mother. Christine's increasing self concern causes Rayona to feel her mom is ignoring her, when that is not true at all.
Stein, Karen F. "Amy Tan." Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition (2001): 1-3. Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.
Derricotte’s conclusive paragraph begins with, “My mother helps me. She sends me signs: her African violet bloomed for the first time on my windowsill three years after her death, on the first day of her death month…I love my mother now in ways I could not have loved her when she was alive, fierce, terrifying, unpredictable, mad, shame-inducing, self-involved, relentless, and determined by any means necessary” (53). The timing of her love for her mother became insignificant. It wasn’t about when she finally reached the point of loving her mother but the mere fact that she loved her. The utilization of descriptive writing and the emotional implementation in “Beginning Dialogues” are a couple of ways Derricotte enraptures her readers in this short story. Regardless of a painful past or a traumatic childhood she allows herself to see that love truly conquers
She continues in this sequel to talk about the abuse she faced and the dysfunction that surrounded her life as a child and as a teen, and the ‘empty space’ in which she lived in as a result. She talks about the multiple personalities she was exhibiting, the rebellious “Willie” and the kind “Carol”; as well as hearing noises and her sensory problems. In this book, the author puts more emphasis on the “consciousness” and “awareness” and how important that was for her therapeutic process. She could not just be on “auto-pilot” and act normal; the road to recovery was filled with self-awareness and the need to process all the pieces of the puzzle—often with the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She had a need to analyze the abstract concept of emotions as well as feelings and thoughts. Connecting with others who go through what she did was also integral to her
Nora hints to Anne Marie that she wants her to watch the children when she leaves by saying, “Dear old Anne Marie, you were such a good mother to me when I was little. Nursemaid: Poor little Nora, you had no other mother but me. Nora: And if my little ones had no mother, I’m sure that you would” ( Ibsen 1575). Nora already has the idea of wanting to leave her family and she is just making sure that Anne Marie would take care of her children like how she took care of Nora. Before Nora leaves, she wants to make sure that her children will be looked after because she does not know how to be a mother to her children. Nora is afraid that she will raise the children poorly and when Torvald states, “Because an atmosphere of lies infects and poisons the whole family of a home. Every breath the children take in a house like that is full of the germs of moral corruption . . . My dear, I’ve seen it many times in my legal career. Almost everyone who’s gone wrong at a young age had a dishonest mother” (Ibsen 1573). Nora is frightened by the thought that she is a terrible mother because she is filling her home with lies. The thought of being a bad mother and ruining the children is stuck in Nora’s head. She does not have any idea of how to be a good mother because she had no role model when she was raised, the nanny was the only source of a mother she had. Nora has no idea what a good mother looks like because of her childhood, so she thinks she cannot be a good mother to her children. Nora’s thoughts about corrupting her children because of her decision to lie to Krogstad and ruin her family ultimately drives her to think that she is unfit to be a
Nora’s life struggle began at a young age. Her father treated her like an inhuman object, and now her husband has done the same thing. After many years of maintaining her “perfect” life, Nora could no longer live like this. She finally stands up for herself and makes a choice to leave her family. This decision is completely reasonable. It is unimaginable to think anyone could treat another person so crudely. No person should be molded into being someone they are not. It is unfair to treat a loved one like an object instead of an equal human being. Unfortunately there are many women today who find themselves in the same position in Nora. Many of which do not have the strength to confront, and to pry themselves from grips of their abusers. It is possible that the greatest miracle will be Nora, out on her own, finding her true self.
In the beginning of the play, she shows her love toward her children, she plays with them and buys them toys, thus symbolizing Nora’s life, and that she is defined by her children. Majority of the women including Nora during her time period were defined by who their family was. Their lives were defined by children they raised and the husbands they married.
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
...dlike mentality and needs to grow before she can raise her own children. Her defiance of Torvald, when he refuses to let her leave, reflects her epiphany that she isn't obligated to let Torvald dictate her actions. The height of Nora's realization comes when she tells Torvald that her duty to herself is as strong as her duty as a wife and mother. She now sees that she is a human being before she is a wife and mother and she owes herself to explore her personality, ambitions, and beliefs.