“When God Was a Rabbit”, by Sarah Winman, is a beautifully written novel that follows the life of Eleanor Maud, or “Elly”. Elly is the narrator of this novel, and she chronicles her life as she transitions from childhood to adulthood. Divided into two halves, the novel revolves around Elly, her friends and family, and the tragedies they face. When I started reading the novel, I had thought that it would be a light read because of the rather funny title. As I read this novel, I discovered that violence is the novel’s main backdrop; the novel has many dark, disturbing themes such as sexual abuse, domestic violence and terrorism. However, against the violent settings, the love of a family stood out very distinctly to me as an idea that permeates through the whole novel.
This novel has the feel of a memoir; I feel like we are reading Elly’s autobiography. I did have a hard time keeping up with the novel’s plot, as many things are happening all at once – sexual abuse, domestic violence, terrorism, kidnapping, death of loved ones. Tragedies after tragedies were heaped on the characters. The novel was also peppered with many actual historical events, including 9/11. However, it is the character Jenny Penny, Elly’s best friend, that struck me the most. Reading about Jenny Penny, I felt sad. Jenny Penny comes from a broken home, her parents are separated. She does not have a father figure to look up to, except for her mother’s numerous boyfriends. To me, her mother is still a child herself. As Elly said, Jenny Penny and her mother “lived in a temporary world of temporary men; a world that could be broken up and reassembled as easily and as quickly as Lego”. This is also highlighted by the quote “Jenny Penny had never known her father. Sh...
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...nd the struggles they face, Sarah Winman taught me how important family is; she showed me how family can overcome almost anything. Through Jenny Penny in particular, Winman also highlighted to me how many people in the wider society, even as an adult, fail to receive the much-needed love of a family. She reminded me of how fortunate I am to have a family where my parents are present for me both physically and emotionally. I am not sure if Sarah Winman had written this novel with the intent of making readers like me feel guilty for taking their family for granted. Nevertheless, I take away an unforgettable real life lesson of the significance of a family’s love. Thus, “When God Was a Rabbit” is a poignant, rather bittersweet novel that made an incredibly deep impression on me as it challenges me to appreciate my family more, a challenge that I hope I will rise up to.
Janie’s character undergoes a major change after Joe’s death. She has freedom. While the town goes to watch a ball game Janie meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers, hunt, and fish. That made Janie happy. “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Tea Cake gave her the comfort of feeling wanted. Janie realizes Tea Cake’s difference from her prior relationships because he wants her to become happy and cares about what she likes to do. Janie tells Pheoby about moving away with Tea Cake and Pheoby tells her that people disapprove of the way she behaves right after the death of her husband. Janie says she controls her life and it has become time for her to live it her way. “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). Janie becomes stronger as she dates Tea Cake because she no longer does for everyone else. Janie and Tea Cake decided to move to the Everglades, the muck. One afternoon, a hurricane came. The hurricane symbolizes disaster and another change in Janie’s life. “Capricious but impersonal, it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys the
It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of love and protection in return. When they threaten to annihilate and hush her with these definitions, however, she uses her voice and fights to save her dream and her life. Hurston shows how Janie’s parental figures transform into metaphorical hurricanes, how a literal hurricane transforms into a metaphorical representation of Janie’s parental figures, and how Janie survives all five hurricanes.
Many of Margaret Wise Brown’s most famous books have animals as the main character. For example, Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon, two of her most popular books, feature rabbits as the main characters. Further, in Goodnight Moon, the animal’s behavior is parallel to that of humans. For example, the motherly figure on the rocking chair is reading to the young rabbit as many parents do to their children. Additionally, Brown adds a humorous element as the young rabbit seems to have pets.
basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and
‘’Salvation’’ emphasized my own need for acceptance while at the same time making me fear the rejection of being different. Where ‘’Salvation’’ showed me my weakness, ‘’Mothers’’ showed me growth. My father leaving played a bigger part in my life than I had remembered, and ‘’Mothers’’ simply showed me the door towards that again. Besides being torn with my relationship with my father Quindlen made me grateful for the best friend that I have found in my mother. Hughes brought up all the ‘’skeletons in my closet’’ that I never told my mother. [Instead of feeling ashamed about haven hidden secrets and relationships from her, I felt ashamed for every time I lied to save myself from her wrath.] Both authors took me to moments in my life that had lasting impressions on me. ‘’Mothers’’ made me relive the birth of my baby sister, and ‘’Salvation’’ made me reenact countless disagreements that I’ve experienced with my parents. Although I would like to secrete these memories, it was healthy for me to remember the lessons I learned from them.
This book has many strong characters who you are going to emphasize while there will be others who are dis-likable. The way characters in the book are given action, I never would have imagined what one has said or ever done. During my readings, I never noticed that this book Mrs. Stockett wrote was fiction due to the part that everything seemed believable during the time of the events. Even when I read from the viewpoints of the League ladies suchlike Miss Hilly, to the maids who work for them people. Though, The Help, could have veered into violent representation, Mrs. Stockett does not take it there by giving life intimacy along with inter household connections.
“She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight,” (11). The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching, God by Zora Neale Hurston, tells a story of a woman, Janie Crawford’s quest to find her true identity that takes her on a journey and back in which she finally comes to learn who she is. These lessons of love and life that Janie comes to attain about herself are endowed from the relationships she has with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake.
Growing up is a natural part of life. Everyone grows up. The loss of childish innocence and blind faith in what is said is one chief mark of growing up. Loss of innocence, however, presents itself in many forms, even to adults, and with it brings a greater understanding of the world at large. In literature, authors use the process to explore society and humanity. Through the characters’ loss of innocence, the authors of both To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice & Men discuss ideas of prejudice, family, and courage.
Their Eyes Were Watching God a story about how Janie reaches a strong sense of self and comes to recognize her independence. But her path toward understanding is not tackle alone. The gender differences that Hurston uses require that males and females provide each other with things that they require but don’t have. Janie sees that fulfilling relationships are shared and based on mutual respect, Hurston demonstrates in Janie’s relat...
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
Center stage in Kaye Gibbons’ inspiring bildungsroman, Ellen Foster, is the spunky heroine Ellen Foster. At the start of the novel, Ellen is a fiery nine-year old girl. Her whole life, especially the three years depicted in Ellen Foster, Ellen is exposed to death, neglect, hunger and emotional and physical abuse. Despite the atrocities surrounding her, Ellen asks for nothing more than to find a “new mama” to love her. She avoids facing the harsh reality of strangers and her own family’s cruelty towards her by using different forms of escapism. Thrice Ellen is exposed to death (Gibbons 27). Each time, Ellen has a conversation with a magician to cope with the trauma (Gibbons 22-145). Many times Ellen’s actions and words cause it to be difficult to tell that she is still a child. However, in order to distract herself, Ellen will play meaningful games (Gibbons 26). These games become a fulcrum for Ellen’s inner child to express itself. Frequently, Ellen will lapse into a daydream (Gibbons 67). Usually, these daydreams are meant to protect herself from the harsh reality around her. Ellen Foster’s unique use of escapism resounds as the theme of Kaye Gibbon’s Ellen Foster.
Robert shares a special relationship and bond with animals, in particular rabbits. The rabbits are a symbol of Rowena, not only because they were her prize possession, but also because the rabbits remind Robert of his younger sister. Both Rowena and the rabbits are characters of innocence and purity. Being considered as small, fragile and precious to those who love and look after them. Findley uses the rabbits to evoke feelings of guilt from Robert, during the constant appearances in the novel. When Rowena dies, R...
Through vivid yet subtle symbols, the author weaves a complex web with which to showcase the narrator's oppressive upbringing. Two literary
Innocence is something always expected to be lost sooner or later in life, an inevitable event that comes of growing up and realizing the world for what it truly is. Alice Walker’s “The Flowers” portrays an event in which a ten year old girl’s loss of innocence after unveiling a relatively shocking towards the end of the story. Set in post-Civil War America, the literary piece holds very particular fragments of imagery and symbolism that describe the ultimate maturing of Myop, the young female protagonist of the story. In “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, the literary elements of imagery, symbolism, and setting “The Flowers” help to set up a reasonably surprising unveiling of the gruesome ending, as well as to convey the theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing the harsh reality of this world.
He has grown up in the backwash of a dying city and has developed into an individual sensitive to the fact that his town’s vivacity has receded, leaving the faintest echoes of romance, a residue of empty piety, and symbolic memories of an active concern for God and mankind that no longer exists. Although the young boy cannot fully comprehend it intellectually, he feels that his surroundings have become malformed and ostentatious. He is at first as blind as his surroundings, but Joyce prepares us for his eventual perceptive awakening by mitigating his carelessness with an unconscious rejection of the spiritual stagnation of his community. Upon hitting Araby, the boy realizes that he has placed all his love and hope in a world that does not exist outside of his imagination. He feels angry and betrayed and comes to realize his self-deception, describing himself as “a creature driven and derided by vanity”, a vanity all his own (Joyce). This, inherently, represents the archetypal Joycean epiphany, a small but definitive moment after which life is never quite the same. This epiphany, in which the boy lives a dream in spite of the disagreeable and the material, is brought to its inevitable conclusion, with the single sensation of life disintegrating. At the moment of his realization, the narrator finds that he is able to better understand his particular circumstance, but, unfortunately, this