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The literary theme of loss
Theme of death and loss in literature
Theme of death and loss in literature
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Most authors tend to write their books in an enthusiastic fashion. Daniel Handler, on the other hand, has a gloomy writing form, showing the not-so-nice things that can occur to people. For example, the three Baudelaire orphans in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Siblings who just lose their parents in a fire that engulfed their house in flames and have to deal with the nuisance known as Count Olaf, a villain after their enormous inheritance. Handler wrote the thirteen books in the series under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. A Series of Unfortunate Events is Handler’s best-known work. In the last book of the series, the three Baudelaires are in the middle of the ocean on a boat after leaving a burning hotel where they worked undercover. Unfortunately, the children are accompanied by Count Olaf, the man after their finances. “And the Baudelaire fortune is finally mine!” Olaf cackled “Finally, I am a very wealthy man, which means everybody must do what I say!” Was Olaf’s reaction to their predicament even though his …show more content…
This series has a large number of perspectives, so many ways to look at these people’s lives and the way they look at what they are doing. “It depends on how you look at it” “It depends on how you look at it” is everything in this story. Someone might see three troubling orphans digging a hole to trap an innocent woman when really they are trying to save themselves from her and her boyfriend, Count Olaf who is trying to steal their fortune by any means possible. But not all of the book is low spirited. “I’m dressed as a pregnant woman because I am a pregnant woman” Count Olaf replies, in his high pitched, disguised voice. Although much of Handler’s writing in this book consists of unsettling tragedies, there are parts with humor and joy. The happy and sad, the mysteries, and the nail-biters are what make Handler’s books so
Do we control the judgments and decisions that we make every day? In the book,
So in the end it is to be asked what is so important about trying to intertwine Germany Pale Mother with established fairy tales. I propose that it is part of the defensive mechanism Sanders-Brahms uses in dealing with the crime’s of her parents generation, and making sure that it is not forgotten. Fairy tales are timeless pieces of literature. As Anton Kaes wrote, “... fairy tales stand outside of history, they confront us directly with unconscious impulses and let us project into them our own wishes and fantasies. (Kaes, 149).
The novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies does away with the stigma that Canadian literature is dull and boring. A master of his art, Davies creates a cast of vivid characters and skillfully weaves them into a story about love, guilt, myth and redemption. With the effective use of first-person narrative, Fifth Business is written as a fictional memoir of the character Dunstable Ramsey, who grows up in the small town of Deptford in Ontario, Canada. As a boy, Dunstable was unmistakably very intelligent, gifted with an uncanny ability to read others. He was raised in a Scottish household by strict Presbyterian parents, who into him hammered several religious canons and tenets. Thus, Dunstan understood the importance of respect and moral responsibility from a young age. There would seem to be no reason for such an exemplary youth, gifted with an intelligence exceeding of his small-town upbringing, to not go onto to lead a happy, satisfying life. Yet there is a single incident in Dustan’s boyhood that would define the rest his life. While in a quarrel with his friend and rival, Percy Boyd Staunton, Dustan evades a snowball in which Boyd had hidden a stone. The snowball misses Dunstan and strikes the pregnant wife of the town’s Baptist minister, Mary Dempster, causing her to give birth prematurely and subsequently slip into madness. This marks the beginning of Dustan Ramsey’s lifelong involvement with Mary Dempster, and the beginning of his lifelong struggle with guilt. As he is faced with the outcomes of his actions, Dustan’s core values are called into question. Throughout Fifth Business, Dunstan fails to understand both his true values and true self, which develops as a cons...
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
Character list Annemarie is one of the main characters in this book. She is a 10 year old German girl who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with her mom, dad, and young sister Kirsti. Annemarie tells the story from her point of view. “It was only in the fairy tales that people were called upon to be so brave, to die for one another. Not in real-life Denmark” Annemarie struggles to find the definition of courage, but with the big journey that awaits uphead she soon finds out.
In three dynamic pieces of literature, the desperate yet hopeful characters gallantly endure the struggles of achieving their dreams as they experience the pain of desolation and the life-fulfilling happiness of a friendly companion. Through hostile resentment, the intense repulsion created by generations of territorial disputes tears apart two vengeful foes, Ulrich and Georg, in Saki’s captivating tale. Whereas in Remarque’s gory war novel, the pure terror of battle brutally slaughters the once innocent minds of soldiers as they undergo changes in their heart and soul within themselves. Although impervious to the influence of the reclusive residents tied to the ranch, as they quest for their shared aspirations, George and Lennie forge an invincible friendship in Steinbeck’s calamitous novelette.
Baruch Spinoza once said “Experience teaches us no less clearly than reason, that men believe themselves free, simply because they are conscious of their actions and unconscious of the causes whereby those actions are determined.” He compared free-will with destiny and ended up that what we live and what we think are all results of our destiny; and the concept of the free-will as humanity know is just the awareness of the situation. Similarly, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five explores this struggle between free-will and destiny, and illustrates the idea of time in order to demonstrate that there is no free-will in war; it is just destiny. Vonnegut conveys this through irony, symbolism and satire.
In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden is deals with one of the largest obstacles one would ever face in one’s lifetime. He must deal with the concept of development and the idea that he’s growing up, that he’s no longer a child and must accept maturity. This internal struggle is evident in multiple aspects of this novel, particularly highlighted when Holden visits the museum and the carousel at the conclusion of the novel.
For my Literature Circle assignment I read the novel entitled The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger.Taking place in the 1950's, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular American books of all time, though, its hero is not really a hero at all. Main character Holden Caufield, is a 17 year old, disproved and misunderstood, classic "screw-up", who does poorly in school, loses his team's equipment, and takes an impulsive trip to New York. Distraught by the death of his 11 year old brother Allie, Holden wanders around his birthplace of New York, reconnecting with old friends and making new enemies. The main conflict of this novel is Holden transitioning into an adult and trying to cope with his brother’s death. One main theme displayed all throughout this novel would be depression. For the duration of this novel, Holden spends his time alone, and even if he is in the company of other people, you hear his thoughts of being depressed. Most of this depression is derived from his brother’s death, but there are many other things accountable for his mental issues. Although much of this novel was just Holden’s opinions and thoughts, I found this novel to be very interesting and thought provoking.
	Few writers of the twentieth century have made nearly the same impact on the literary society than Sheldon Allan Silverstein. His writing encompasses a broad range of styles, from adult to children’s, comical to unusual. One of his most common styles was that of fantasy: actions and events that cannot logically happen. This style was evident in his works, the Loser, Thumb Face, Warning, Squishy Touch, and Skin Stealer. Through the description of these absurd circumstances, Silverstein was able to entertain readers of all ages.
Our world, and lives, are full of trials and tribulations. Its our choices, actions, or lack thereof when facing these difficulties that influence the direction of our lives. Rene Denfeld explores this wonderfully in her novel The Enchanted. Her characters all face trials, of varying degrees of intensity, that not only shape them but also the direction of their lives. She delves into this process thoroughly through her character of the white-haired boy. He transforms from an optimistic boy, to a hollow victim of abuse and a corrupt penal system, and finally into a man who did what was necessary to survive.
Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples” is far from the modern day fairy tale. It is a dark and twisted version of the classic tale, Snow White. His retelling is intriguing and unexpected, coming from the point of view of the stepmother rather than Snow White. By doing this, Gaiman changes the entire meaning of the story by switching perspectives and motivations of the characters. This sinister tale has more purpose than to frighten its readers, but to convey a deeper, hidden message. His message in “Snow, Glass, Apples” is that villains may not always be villains, but rather victims.
Life is not always what a person expects it to be. O’Henry realizes this and incorporates it into his stories The Ransom of Red Chief and The Gift of the Magi. Guy de Maupassant also incorporates this theme in his story The Necklace. Unexpected things happen to everyone; the characters from these stories deal with it by ignoring it, accepting it, or facing it head on.
Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” tap’s into young readers anxieties by opening their imagination to new thoughts of possible events that they might experience in the future. Dahl uses Charlie Bucket, the main character as the hero of the story, and arguably a role model for young readers, to portray the life of a poor child who is not blessed with all the things that he wants, because of his economical situation. In this critical paper, I will argue how Charlie Bucket’ character can be considered a role model/ hero for young readers. Discussing the following: the way in which he portrays the not “sunny side of things”(Bettelheim, 272) that taps into young readers anxieties, such as the fear of reaching a point of starvation in their life. Secondly, how he is not a selfish person, who worries about the consequences that others suffer because of their behavior, even though of the critical economical situation that his family is living. And finally, the way in which his good behavior resulted in a victorious end, where he was able to bring complete joy to his family, by taking them from extreme poverty to a place where they would never have to worry about starvation or money anymore.
When the novel by Victor Hugo is titled Les Misérables, flags must go up in the reader’s mind that this is not going to be a happy or ‘fluffy’ story; it is translated as The Misérables/ Wretched/Victims after all. Les Misérables is not just a story about the human condition and its relation to misery, but also provides models on how to deal with said situation, both good and bad. Hugo expresses misery not simply by saying, ‘life is hard,’ but by showing misery through the experiences of men, women, and children and effectively transports the reader into the world Hugo has created.