In the poem “The Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke the poet is describing a panther trapped in a cage. The cage and panther for readers would strike as a metaphor for how people are trapped in this world and there is no way of getting out. On line 3-4, the poet doesn’t just tell the reader that this panther is locked in a cage yet he illustrates that he is trapped within in “thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.” When Rilke chooses these words isolation and depression are easily detectable. Another example of how Rilke describes the world as depressing is the middle stanza. The poet, again, illustrates how weary and tired the panther is when the panther “paces in cramped circles, over and over, the movement of his powerful soft strides,
In Etheridge Knight's poem "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane," he uses a fictional tale to describe the tyrannical elements of prisons while simultaneously conveying the oppression that those who defy authority face in society. Knight effectively utilizes imagery and analogies (implied or clearly stated) to appeal to the readers senses and draw them into the story (and ultimately the motif).
In this world, people go through the process of dealing with both empathy and malice. As a matter of fact, almost everyone has been through times where maybe they feel understood by some and misunderstood by others. Specifically, in the book “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, a character named Madame Schachter goes through the experience of fellow Jews displaying empathy and malice during in result to her behavior. Along with this, the reactions reveal just how inconsiderate we can act when in uncomfortable situations. One example of the malice and lack of sympathy they provided her was during the cattle car ride to Auschwitz. During this ride, she went a bit insane due to the devastating separation of her family. Elie explains, “She received several blows to the head, blows that could have been
When an evil leader comes to power you would think it would be easy to overrun this leader and stop him in his tracks, but this is not always true. Elie Wiesel, a young teenager during the Holocaust is sent to many concentration camps. He sees the horror of what an evil power can do. As Elie Wiesel writes Night, he shows that in difficult times people stay silent and do not fight back, staying obedient to a powerful leader.
He feels like he is the only person who questions life and knows that it was not meant to be this way. Also, this quote sets a dark setting which then gives the reader an ominous feeling that is present throughout the novel. This also is related to the dark and dismal lives that everyone lives during this time. Finally, the main character describes his surroundings as a prison, or that it gives a prison-like feel. This also is related to how he feels different and trapped in this way of life.
The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel gives an in depth view of Nazi Concentration Camps. Growing up in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Wiesel, a young Jewish boy at the innocent age of 12, whose main focus in life was studying the Kabbalah and becoming closer in his relationship with God. In the memoir, Elie Wiesel reflects back to his stay within a Nazi Concentration Camp in hopes that by sharing his experiences, he could not only educate the world on the ugliness known as the Holocaust, but also to remind people that by remembering one atrocity, the next one can potentially be avoided. The holocaust was the persecution and murder of approximately six million Jew’s by Aldolf Hitler’s Nazi army between 1933 and 1945. Overall, the memoir shows
The title to me is almost ironic. In Caged Bird it talks about limited freedom in the sense that a bird that is caged cannot do the one thing it was made for, to fly. Caged Bird is almost a whole reference to how there are many limitations on freedom. I believe each stanza represents a different “time” for the bird. In the first stanza there are many action words used along with the second and third stanzas. In the first stanza it talks about how the bird is free. The author uses action words like, leaps, floats, dips, and dares. The first stanza states, “A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky”(Caged Bird). In context I interpreted this stanza as, a bird jumps onto the wind and is gliding to where the wind may take him. Also that the bird can fly whenever he wants, the sun is orange at dusk and dawn, therefore the bird chooses when to fly. In the second stanza it states, “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing”(Caged Bird). I think the second stanza is in reference to the time that the bird is in the cage, or a rough
Analysis of Leroi Jones' A Poem Some People Will Have To Understand There is an implied threat in "A Poem Some People Will Have To Understand" by Leroi Jones. Ostensibly, there is no intimidation. The poem is confessional, even reflective; the theme is one of mutability and change. However, there is something frightening and ominous in Jones1 vision, which he creates through attention to word choice and structure. Jones' warning is immediately evident in the title through his manipulation of words.
Have you ever experienced distress or misery? The poem, The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe describes the experience of a young man who has lost, Lenore, a woman whom he deeply loved. After this traumatic loss, the narrator encounters a raven that offers insight into his forlorn feelings of sorrow and loneliness. The author’s use of imagery, word choice, and figurative language is used effectively in this popular literary work to convey the theme of a lingering, inconsolable grief.
Have you ever experienced a gut feeling something maybe wrong in the world? When we turn on the news and listen to what is going on we see poverty, death, anger, oppression, and corruption. In the poem “I Sit and Lookout” by Walt Whitman, the reader goes through the harshness of human cruelty, betrayal, and self-sacrifice. This poem discusses the meaning behind human cruelty, the structure of the poem, and why the author was trying to address this particular issue.
In the intense memoir Night, Elie Wiesel uses the use of a literary device , an idiom, to describe and create imagery and describe personality for people in the concentration camp during the holocaust.
Elie Wiesel’s Night offers insight on daily terrors, everyday perversions, and rampant sadism at Nazi concentration camps as well as addressing the philosophical and personal questions raised by the appalling treatment of the Jewish during the holocaust. On page seven of Night, Elie states “Even I did not believe him”. This comment recounts Wiesel’s response to Moishe’s warning about the Nazi’s cruelty towards the Jews at the Polish border. Reflecting on Moishe’s warnings as an adult, Wiesel regrets the pity he felt for Moishe. Elie regrets not taking Moishe seriously and not using his warning to his advantage and escaping with his family while he had the chance. In addition to regret, Wiesel feels guilty that he, along with the other Jews
for dark, mysterious, and bizarre works of fiction. His works sometimes reflected his life experiences and hardships he tried to overcome. Examples of the troubles in his life include alcoholism, having his works rejected over and over, being broke, and losing his family, even his beloved wife to tuberculosis. There is no wonder why his works are so dark and evil, they were taken from his life. A theme is defined as the major or central idea of a work. Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat”, contains six major themes that are discussed in this paper. They include the home, violence, drugs and alcohol, freedom and confinement, justice and judgement, and transformation.
There are many different ways someone is considered to be free, the direct definition is to enjoy personal rights or liberty, this can be interpreted in different forms. In their poems “Caged Bird”, and “Sympathy”, Maya Angelou and Paul Laurance Dunbar use caged birds to represent what it means to be free. They both use birds to convey a better image for the reader. Birds are used in both poems of “Caged Bird” and “Sympathy” as a central image because the caged birds are metaphors for true freedom and hope.
Edgar Allen Poe’s choice of words in his poem “The Raven” create a depressed or forlorn mood. We are shown this in the opening lines of the poem. “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-while I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.” Through these lines we are thrown into an atmosphere that is full of grief, hopelessness, and alienation. His choice of the words alone gives us the feeling of gloom. Other words such as “deep into the darkness” and “nevermore” are used to create a feeling of silence and solitude all emphasizing the mood of the poem.
In the “Caged Bird” Angelou’s comparison to the caged bird was African-Americans in the society they were living in. She symbolized the bird with African-Americans experiences. In the second stanza the poem states “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing”. This is comparison to African-Americans in their society. When African- Americans were enslaved they use to sing songs to uplift their spirits because that’s all they could do. They were physically bound and mentally brain-washed. The songs was there way of showing they still had fight left in them. In the fourth stanza it states “The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own”. This is saying the while African-Americans were enslaved and oppressed they watched Caucasians be free and do as they pleased. Although at the time African-Americans never experienced freedom they yearned for it. They knew it had to be better then what they were enduring. Racism is considered the cage around the caged bird, and it means not getting treated fairly with jobs, medical treatment, and even get