It is apparent to me, after reading Simon and the Oaks, that the implied author is not one but two characters. Marianne Fredriksson constructs herself through both the characters of Karin and Simon. Through parallels evident to me relating to Karin's character, I am being drawn to recognize the influence of Fredriksson's "selfhood" in the text and it is through this that Karin becomes the implied author in the text. It is also projected to me that Fredriksson's ideologies, morals and beliefs are portrayed in the text through Karen, whilst the experiences, events and memories are being portrayed through the main character and narrator of the text, Simon.
Karin, throughout the text, is seen as a nurturing, caring mother, with a simple yet kind attitude towards life. It is my perception that Fredriksson's being is portrayed throughout the text, intentionally or not, by her own writing and, through this, Fredriksson is applying her own selfness which is being transferred into Karin's apparentness. It is with my cultural repertoire that I read further into this relationship of parallels and begin to understand the selfness of Karin and, through her image, the selfhood of Fredriksson that is apparent within the text. With the commencement of the text came the death of Fredriksson and her position of sole literal interpreter and with this death came the birth of the character that is Karin.
As the implied author, Karin represents to me the ethical and moral historical writer of the text. Through my lived text and my perceived understanding of Fredriksson and the bias that she writes from, it is evident to me through her sentiments on the Nazi Party and her specific and particular mentioning of atrocities committed and the cruel and callous nature of the Armed Forces, she is strongly showing her opposition to Military control and military service. Fredriksson is taking her personal beliefs and transforming them through her new textual life as Karin.
As well as being represented ideologically and ethically through Karin, Fredriksson has again become apparent to me through the text via the experiences and events that occur through the eyes and narration of the character Simon. Again it is through my cultural repertoire and my self reflexive train of thought that this was made so. As Fredriksson was born at around the same time as Simon and was brought up around the same area that Simon was, it is
Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier is a work notable not only for its vivid and uncompromising account of his experience as a member of the Wehrmacht in World War II, but also for its subtle and incisive commentary about the very nature of war itself. What is perhaps most intriguing about Sajer’s novel is his treatment of the supposedly “universal” virtues present within war such as professionalism, patriotism, camaraderie, and self-sacrifice. Sajer introduces a break between how war is thought about in the abstract and how it has actually been conducted historically.
The next text analyzed for this study is the first monograph read for the study, therefore, there is a lot of information that had not been previously discussed by the latter authors: Claudia Koonz 's 1987 text Mothers in the Fatherland. The author begins her text with a Preface where she discusses her interview with Gertrude Scholtz-Klink, the leader of the Women 's Labor Service. While this is not the first time in the study that Scholtz-Klink 's name appears, but Koonz 's discussion of the interview personifies Scholtz-Klink, rather than just make her a two-dimensional character in historical research. For the first time in this study, the reader can understand the reasoning some people (right or wrong) sided with the Nazi Party. The interview
Linde is an example of a woman acting predatory with her jealously and advancing herself as the motive for her actions. When Nora and Mrs. Linde are catching up on each other’s lives, Mrs. Linde tells Nora of the hardship in her life and says, “No one to work for, and yet you’re always having to snap up your opportunities. You have to live; and so you grow selfish” (Ibsen 2192). This emphasizes the nature of predatoriness in this society that is necessary to live within it. Mrs. Linde mentions that she has struggled to find work and garners Nora’s sympathy to then follow up and ask Nora if Torvald could possibly find her a job. Through Mrs. Linde, Ibsen illustrates this type of subtle predatoriness that is commonly used to advance oneself in his society. When Krogstad tells Mrs. Linde about his letter to Torvald, instead of stopping Torvald from getting the letter, and finding out Nora’s secret, she says, “Helmer’s got to learn everything; this dreadful secret has to be aired; those two have come have to come to a full understanding; all these lies and evasions can’t go on” (Ibsen 2222). Mrs. Linde gets exactly what she wants, a life similar to Nora’s with Krogstad, without having to cause any damage, but demonstrates predatory nature through acting with the intention to hurt Nora due to the jealousy she felt for Nora’s life. Ibsen suggests that many women want to get married and live the life of a life of a perfect housewife, but do not succeed in this, like Mrs.
...tant to recognize this book is not “pro”- war for violence or killing, only “pro”-war in that this Great War had to be rationalized so that Jünger could survive. Jünger took pride in things that were appropriate for his time – the death of an enemy meant the potential survival of his Company and fighting alongside his brothers gave him a sense of fearlessness and purpose toward death. Jünger’s message seems to relate that it is sometimes necessary to fight in the name of family and to protect one’s nation. Jünger witnessed the brutality of the war and it shook him to a point of devastation (particularly after the Battle of Somme and toward the end), but he refused to allow it to overcome him and rejoiced in the short and simple moments of beauty in life.
...rocedure for the Nazi regime’s extermination camps and “Final Solution.” In order for the assailants to perform their duties they had to reduce their victims to nothing, so in the end they would be “less burdened by guilt.” (DS, 126) Levi provides readers with the Nazi’s process of destruction and explains how their totalitarian system was accountable for the propagation of this level of brutality. It is mentioned that “all of them, teachers and pupils, became progressively removed from reality as little by little their morality came unglued.” (DS, 107) Here we see why it was so important to perform such useless acts of violence, because we are not conditioned to such mass killings. Both Levi’s writings, Survival in Auschwitz and The Drowned and the Saved provide an insight into life in the Lager, and the dehumanization that ultimately destroyed millions of people.
The original title of the book, Storm of Steel was “Im Stahlgewittern”, which means in the middle of steel storm. Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel is written in a form of a diary that describes his life as a soldier of the First World War from January 1, 1915 to August 1918. In this book, Jünger described the horrors of war without any falsity and rarely wrote political reasons for the war or criticism of war. Jünger’s focus was on detailedly describing the daily life of the battlefield and expressing the ability of the soldiers to cope with the crisis and the saga of survival struggle. However, I discovered in this book that he had strong nationalism, believed in male-heroism, and had somewhat psychopathic mindset. In this paper, I analyzed Ernst
The Forgotten Soldier is not a book concerning the tactics and strategy of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. Nor does it analyze Nazi ideology and philosophy. Instead, it describes the life of a typical teenage German soldier on the Eastern Front. And through this examined life, the reader receives a first hand account of the atrocious nature of war. Sajer's book portrays the reality of combat in relation to the human physical, psychological, and physiological condition.
In this book, Funder gave us both sides of the story where the victim of the Stasi were given an opportunity to tell their truth, but the perpetrators were also given a chance to tell their truth of being a part of the Ministry of State Security. Through the course of this book, women like Julia, Miriam, and Frau Paul express to the reader how their experiences in the GDR were an open wound that would not heal because of how horrific the circumstances were. The ex-Stasi members had little to no remorse for their actions and it solidified the need for harsher punishment. After World War II, many of the war criminals were not brought to justice because of the way the law was written. If the Stasi members were to be given punishment, the judicial system would have to do something about it, otherwise the opinions of a select few citizens would not make a difference. The root to solving this problem is the government; they are fundamentally the only ones that can bring about
...t him. However the true character of Torvald seems nothing like the imagined one of Nora, for he gives in to the demands of Krogstad very quickly upon assessing the situation. She originally experiences denial, because she forced herself to believe that Torvald will come to her rescue. The third piece of mail shows Nora the truth about her husband, and makes her realize how he mistreats her. Therefore, it reveals the lie that she tricked herself into believing, that Torvald is not the man she wanted to believe he was. In fact, it could be argued that Nora never in fact loved Torvald at all, and any love expressed in the marriage was a lie in itself. In that case the note also reveals the facade put on during their marriage. Ibsen used the letter symbolizing the true nature of Nora's husband to point out the lie that she choose to believe about their relationship.
and the transition of control between characters Ibsen is able to create a commentary on the rights and values of a society devoid of many gender equality that are present today. The change in Nora. from being under the power of Krogstad and Helmer to eventually. leaving the house and the children was a ground breaking power shift. to portray in the social setting of late 1880’s
Edvard Beyer quoted in Aderholts translation of the Henrik Ibsen play, “There is hardly a single line that does not have a demonstrable dramatic function…. And all of a sudden single everyday words take on a double meaning of foreboding undertones.” (2) Nora’s “important thing” and Mrs. Linde’s “[y]ou are a child” are just a few exhibits of Ibsen’s double meanings. “Important thing,” the misrepresentation, a secret, laid the foundation of colored building blocks of their eight years of marriage. Is this truly the start of that first lying block Nora so easily laid down? No, it started with the injustices her father played upon her; treating her as his little doll, a doll to play dress-up and present his doting daughter to others. Subsequently, it was not hard for Torvald to continue Nora’s life as a living doll; his own game within as she is a willing subject. “[Quite] right, Christine. You see, Torvald loves me so indescribably, he wants to have me all to himself, as he says.” (Act II 54) Reveals how Torvald wants his toy all to himself; all along Nora knowing this she plays along with the game. While she keeps Torvald from finding out her biggest secret, she knowingly continues to play the role of Nora the doll; helpless without direction from the puppet master. Impressively Ibsen’s suggestions are lines of double meaning and the game of manipulation between Nora and those surrounding
The Modern Breakthrough of Scandinavian literature, which occurred at the latter end of the 19th century, was a direct reaction to the Romantic ideas of idealism and emotion so heavily emphasized throughout the previous century. Characterized by presenting realism and naturalism, the movement brought social issues, like the drive for equality and personal liberty, to question. August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen brought such ideas to the forefront of literature in “The Father” and “A Doll House.” Multiple characters in the plays are on journeys towards seeking their personal liberty, but the theme is arguably most exemplified in said journeys of the two stories’ main female character. Using the medium of their female leads (Laura and Nora, respectively), Strindberg and Ibsen diverge in their construction of the drive for personal liberty, where Laura represents a negative dismantling of the traditional family and Nora conversely represents the positive progressive catalyst in her drive for social equality and personal liberty.
A Doll 's house is one of the modern works that Henrik Ibsen wrote. He was called the father of modern drama .He was famous for writing plays that related to real life. A Doll 's House is a three-act play that discusses the marriage in the 19th century. It is a well-made play that used the first act as an exposition. The extract that will be analyzed in the following paragraphs is a dialogue between Nora and the nurse that takes care of her children. This extract shows how she was afraid not only of Krogstad blackmail, but also of Torvald 's point of view about those who committed any mistake. Torvald says that the mothers who tell lies should not bring up children as they are not honest . Nora is also lying to her family and to Torvald. So she is afraid because she thinks she maybe 'poisoning ' her own children. The analysis of this extract will be about of Nora 's character, the theme, and the language in A Doll 's House.
Throughout A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates through an intriguing story how a once infantile-like woman gains independence and a life of her own. Ibsen creates a naturalistic drama that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seam to have it all, but in reality their life together is empty. Instead of meaningful discussions, Torvald uses degrading pet names and meaningless talk to relate to Nora. Continuing to treat Nora like a pampered yet unimportant pet, Torvald thoroughly demonstrates how men of his era treat women as insignificant items to be possessed and shown off. While the Helmer household may have the appearance of being sociably acceptable, the marriage of Torvald and Nora was falling apart because of the lack of identity, love, and communication.
Though unknown to the outside world, many seemingly perfect relationships are dark moral places to investigate. We constantly see idealistic relationships that appear flawless at first glance; however, we are too taken aback when we discover such relationships are based on deception. In A Doll House, Henrik Ibsen contends through Nora that truth plays a crucial role in idealistic living; and when idealistic lifestyles are built on deceit an individual will eventually undergo an epiphany resulting in a radical understanding of reality, potentially leading to the destruction of relationships. This idea is exercised in the play when Ibsen immerses us directly in the center of a romantic and idealized relationship between an older man, Torvald Helmer, and his childlike trophy wife Nora. While Nora is young, beautiful, childlike, immature and naïve, her husband Torvald is a stern, serious and controlling business man. Throughout the play, we discover how faulty and deceptive based the relationship between Torvald and Nora is, and so does Nora. Act one involves an introduction of the relationship between the two, and we are first introduced to the idea of how baseless the relationship really is on truth. The second act develops Nora’s recognition of the faulty marriage and further problems begin to complicate as well as develop Nora’s understanding; finally, the third act is when Nora experiences the epiphany that her relationship with Torvald is truly faulty and is based on nothing true at all. Although the idea that was significantly radical in Ibsen’s time, it is significant and seems to become more evident as a truth in our society today. Openness and truth is necessary for a truly idealistic lifestyle.