In this paper, I will argue that Douglas Coupland in "Player One", incorporates storytelling to highlight the loss of personal identity. This is evidently shown by appearance of Player One, also know as Rachel, technology becoming one, and the lack of rationality with time and setting.
Throughout the novel, "Player One”, one of the main themes Coupland emphasis on is, “What is to Become of Us”. Coupland emphasis and brings light on to the fact that in the future there is no sense of “I”, there will only be an “Us”. Coupland very strategically uses words like, “become” to underline the future and how it will bring changes on identity. The relationship that exists between technology and humans has moved on from being an extension, and
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The name “Player One” holds significance, by it being the name in which “one” has complete control of the world and time. Player One is an avatar that Rachel uses to be human. In the novel, Rachel is Player One, making her the one to have complete and total control of what is happening. Player One is the narrator that illustrates the future of the characters, and the feelings and impact that each scenario is having on them. Player One, as a narrator gives a fore-shadowing view, of what is to be like the role of a higher power in reality. The characters are trapped within their bodies for seventy or so years, unable to free themselves and roam around, like Player One. Due to Rachel having a lesion in the right side of her brain, she is prevented from being able to comprehend humour, irony, passion and god. Theses are all given neurological significance, since they are all identified by the brain. These characteristics lead and prevent her from having a personal identity, that is considered “normal”. The lesion prevents Rachel from being able to differentiate among all these, making her “non-human”. She has no identity, nothing that makes her an individual is capable of being differentiated by her brain, classifying her as a robot. Humans love being able to classify and define what is being portrayed in front of them.Anything which is not understood by the brain, is considered abnormal and inhuman like. Rachel then, uses Player One to be able to feel and express all theses characteristics. To Rachel, Player One is a medium, she can use to express herself and feel normal. Rachel does not have a true personal identity, until she is tied down with Player One. It is ironic, considering that for Rachel to be able to feel “human”, she relies on technology, but in the end she is able to fulfil her life’s goal through human interaction. Rachel signifies
Although not as apparently driven by materialism to the extent that Jack is, but equally as conventional, the narrator of "The Other" is ver...
D'hoker, Elke, and Gunther Martens, eds. Narrative unreliability in the twentieth-century first-person novel. Vol. 14. Walter de Gruyter, 2008.
Throughout a lifetime, one can run through many different personalities that transform constantly due to experience and growing maturity, whether he or she becomes the quiet, brooding type, or tries out being the wild, party maniac. Richard Yates examines acting and role-playing—recurring themes throughout the ages—in his fictional novel Revolutionary Road. Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple living miserably in suburbia, experience relationship difficulties as their desire to escape grows. Despite their search for something different, the couple’s lack of communication causes their planned move to Europe to fall through. Frank and April Wheeler play roles not only in their individual searches for identity, but also in their search for a healthy couple identity; however, the more the Wheelers hide behind their desired roles, the more they lose sense of their true selves as individuals and as a pair.
Teresa De Lauretis defines the space-off as “spaces in the margins of hegemonic discourse, social spaces carved in the interstices of institutions and in the chinks and cracks of the power-knowledge apparati. And it is there that the terms of a different construction [...] can be posed (De Lauretis 232). This paper examines Angela Carter’s use of the space-off in “The Company of Wolves”. I begin by showing how Carter employs fairy tale convention in order to establish a fairy tale space, particularly in terms of gender norms and didacticism. I proceed to examine the ways in which she reveals aspects that are marginal to this space. Marginal, meaning that they exist peripherally, without supporting or contributing to the space, thus threatening the space and its place at the center, though they may never dismantle it. I finish by demonstrating how the elements come together in the creation of an alternative narrative.
It should be noted that gaining an identity in autobiographical writing is crucial “because literacy becomes a way of creating an identity where before there was none in the public discourse” (Finkelman, vol.2, 190). Although the identities of William and Ellen Craft may have been revealed partially before their narrative, their own words and experience have a much greater impact on the reader than if told by a secondary source.
Witoski, Michael. “Identities & Issues in Literature. “Work Analysis. Identities & Issues in Literature. Ipwich Massachusetts: Salem, 1997. 1-2. Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Waxler, Robert P. The Mixed Heritage of the Chief: Revisiting the Problem of Manhood in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. N.p.: Wiley-Blackwell, n.d. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Robert T. Tally Jr. uses the phrase “misanthropic humanism” to describe Vonnegut’s examination of the human condition. The term “misanthropic humanism” describes the idea that humanity’s desire for a utopia which is hindered by human nature’s flaws which prevent a true utopian society from flourishing. Vonnegut often explores the idea that humanity turns a utopian dream into a dystopian nightmare (Tally Jr. 18). Vonnegut writes about this theme most prominently in his novel Player Piano, in which human life is rendered meaningless because of manmade machines that bring about an era of mechanical reproduction which renders human life meaningless. In the novel, Humanity’s quest for improvement leads to its downfall
2. The first reason for this thesis stems from the point of view used in the story. The point of view exemplified is one of third person, more specifically one who is omniscient. The story’s message could not be conveyed from the first person, due to the fact that virtually everyone in the writing at hand is not only unable, but unwilling to figure out the true nature of their surroundings.
Jane Austen’s novel, Emma, can be construed as a novel about games; the characters that love to play them and their pitfalls. The importance of games in Emma may not be as intelligible when first reading the novel, like games, their role may appear trivial. On the contrary, scenes in which the characters take part in various games and riddles are some of the more didactic scenes in the text. It is often the case that there is a game played by the characters, within the game or riddle presented in the scene. In Emma, Austen uses games, both physical and mental, as vehicles to expose the flaws and subtext of characters, as well as a means to drive the plot in this dialogue heavy tale. Furthermore, through analysis of the scenes involving Mr. Elton’s riddle, the word game at Donwell Abbey and the conundrum at Box Hill, it can be argued the games and riddles are representative of the mental games played by the characters.
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
When authors set out to impact the lives of readers, a diverse utilization of literary aspects is often required. It is easy to come across many differences and similarities between literary aspects when one delves into a plethora of works. In the book Life of Pi author Yann Martel harnesses the use of a varied first person point of view in order to accurately portray the sense of panic and urgency in given situations; adversely, in the short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, a detached third person point of view is taken into account in order to drag the reader along on the drawn-out, suspenseful journey that the families involved had to endure. Despite the difference in narrators amongst Life of Pi and “The Lottery,” the points of view of both of these works are exercised in order to drive the plot of two very effective literary gems.
Shepherd, Valerie. "Narrative Survival: The power of personal narration, discussed through the personal story-telling of fictional characters, particularly those created by Margaret Atwood." Language and Communication. 15.4 (1995): 355-373.
The very structure of Atwood's story is a critique of literary form, as she completely abandons convention. This piece has no real structure, and plots are laid out as a list ...
In a novel where the plot continues to change, through new information being layered over old, the reader questions the believability of the main characters, Kristof’s audience may have difficulty grasping the values presented in a story such as The Third Lie. Despite the chaotic method in which the plot is written, Kristof communicates meaningful ideas to her audience. Three of which will be discussed in the following paragraphs.