Borden Deal's Antaeus utilizes the transition of T.J's location from Marion County Alabama, to a teeming city up North. This momentous transition takes a toll on T.J's overall attitude and lifestyle. From a stagnant rural southern area with sprawling farmland and woods, to a bustling industrial city up North, T.J. must make adjustments to his life. T.J. eventually makes friends with his neighborhood gang while realizing that he is no longer in a rural area that he was used to. His life evolves drastically from contempt to disturbed. This monumental move T.J. and his family undergo exemplifies the theme of coming of age. When T.J. migrated North with his family, his atmosphere changed. He adapted to the change of the city as a boy adapts
to the change of being a man. The symbolism of his move to the North is puberty. Rather than instilling the large city, he brought the South to the North by transfiguring a factory roof into an alluring garden. The symbolism of the garden is everyone's inner-child. The garden was a distraction from the large city in which T.J. resided, a way of remembering his past in the South. When the businessmen confronted T.J. and his friends the ¨adult-world¨ came into full perspective. The harsh reality of the real-world kicked into action in T.J. yet he could not intertwine with reality. Because T.J. would not accept the real-world, the real-world would not accept him. He disregarded reality to return to the South. T.J's return to the South symbolizes T.J's refusal to accept puberty. He hides from the truth, the real-world, reality. He lacks maturity to accept the change of his life. As much as he hides from the truth that continuously taunts him, he never matures, never learns, never changes. The story leaves off with T.J. returning to his home, or at least what he comprehends is his home. Ignoring adulthood as much as he possibly can though it continuously taunts him. Coming of age never occurs in this story. Instead, T.J. is hiding from coming of age, and coming of age is hiding from him.
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
“The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his” (Moore, 2011). This quote perfectly describes the book The Other Wes Moore. This book was a story about two people who have the same name and grew up in similar environments, but had very different lives. The author of the book, Mr. Moore, became successful and was given the opportunity to receive “one of the most prestigious academic awards for students in the world” (Moore, 2011). On the other side of the spectrum, the other Wes Moore “will spend every day until his death behind bars for an armed robbery that left a police officer and a father of five dead” (Moore, 2011). Mr. Moore decided to contact the
In the book this happens after TJ returns home from foster care and becomes involved in gangs, violence, and drugs. TJ is spinning out of control with no direction until one day when his foster care manager comes to school to check in on him. She says, “I can’t save you. You have to do that on your own. You may not know this, but you have choices that you can make. You can choose, TJ” (Tillit 161). This quote directly relates to the theme of the story. In the story TJ is letting others influence his future and leading him down a bad path until his foster manager consults with him. The meeting helps TJ see that he can escape his life of poverty and violence and live a better life
In Guy De Maupassant’s Old Milon, the protagonist, Old Milon, is a clever and intelligent Old Man, who murders Prussian soldiers for revenge. Using his cleverness Old Milon develops an insidious plan to achieve revenge on the Prussian soldiers, who have killed his son and father, taken animals and food from him, and who are quartered on his farm. Old Milon knew that in order to not be suspected he must be an amicable host to the Prussians, and he accomplished this as the Prussians thought he was, “obliging and even attentive to [them]” (Maupassant p.2). Gaining their trust was what allowed Old Milon to be able to go off his land, which would be where he would kill after the first murder, and it was what kept the Prussians from thinking that he had been the murderer. Knowing he would need to go off his land to
In the story "Antaeus," by Borden Deal, the main character T.J has three capabilities that make him different from his friends. First of all, T.J. is a very intelligent boy. His new city companions did not maintain the wisdom T.J. has about the world and how to deal with people around. T. J. is also a receptive boy, a soft-spoken person who feels an attachment to the land. Finally, T.J. is a tenacious boy who sticks to his plans once he starts it and who would reject to the idea about destroying what he has created.
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.
Rome, even at its beginnings, proved to be a force to be reckoned with. It’s rapid growth and accumulation of power and repeated victories over powerful neighbors set Rome in a position of great authority and influence. As the leader of early Rome, Romulus’ effective command of his men and governance of his people provided the foundation for the building of a great city. Livy emphasizes Romulus’ possible divine origins and strong ties to deities as a validation and reinforcement of his ability to rule. A nation’s sole defense cannot be just bricks and mortar, it requires an army and a will and Romulus was able to successfully take action against the aggressors when action was needed.
...heme of maturation in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is conveyed through the characters of Scout and Jem, in conjunction with the assistance of their virtuous father Atticus Finch. Early in the novel, Atticus ascertains himself as a major facilitator in the maturation process of Scout and Jem by incessantly providing mature solutions to his children’s predicaments. Moreover, Scout, a major benefactor of the Boo Radley incident and Atticus’ wisdom, has helped her develop into a very tolerant and mature individual. Undeniably, Jem’s remarkable development into a broadminded and compassionate character can be directly attributed to Atticus’ kindness and Jem’s exposure to the Tom Robinson trial. In synopsis, it is evident that the individuals and social circumstances that surround an individual play a major role in defining the type of individual one will become.
The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as a man that showed many bold traits. Written by Homer in 800 B.C.E. Set in greek mythological times The Odyssey showcases a series of islands and kingdoms. The Odyssey visualized in Greek mythology shows many heroes, Gods, and enemies. Odysseus’ many eccentric traits had a great contribution to his journey in The Odyssey. Cleverness, pride, and strength shapes Odysseus and is in place as the backbone of the story.
and he wanted to move to a metropolitan city so he could experience a different way of living.
The infamous scene in Homer’s Odyssey in which Odysseus proudly boasts his name to the Cyclops is a didactic moment, preaching about the dangers of pride. At times, pride can become an impetus toward positivity, but in many cases, such as Odysseus’, an exorbitant amount can have the opposite effect. This trait is explored in numerous works of literature, including Lord of the Flies, “Harrison Bergeron”, and Anthem. It manifests itself in the leaders of these stories in distinctly different ways, yet in each character, his pride is a defining factor in the outcome of his life. Thus, individuals who are intrinsically inclined to be leaders lack the humility to show respect for those superior and inferior to them on the social hierarchy, as they hold a fixed belief that the ultimate beings worthy of reverence are themselves.
The book, Oedipus Rex, has a full range of characters. The colloquy, activity and motivation circle around the characters in the whole story. We find Oedipus Rex trying to get away, from home, to flee the prophecy. The prophecy states that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He also tries to clear up a murder of the old king. Oedipus marries a widow named Iokaste. He also gets advice from a seer named Teiresias. The purpose of this essay is to show the three positive and three negative qualities about these characters in direct and indirect characterization. I will find the qualities of Oedipus, Iokaste and Teiresias.
Dorothy Johnson in “A Man Called Horse” writes about a young man who was born and raised in Boston. He lives in a gracious home under his grandmothers and grandfather’s loving care. For some reason, he is discontent. He leaves home to try to find out the reason for his discontent. Upon leaving he undergoes a change in status and opinion of himself and others. He begins a wealthy young man arrogant and spoiled, becomes a captive of Crow Indians- docile and humble, and emerges a man equal to all.
In the play written by Socrates, “Oedipus the King,” Jocasta is an important character in the play who is presented in the play for a miniscule amount of time, but the impact of her character is far from miniscule. Jocasta can fall into the category of both a main character and a supporting character, character because of how big of an impact her role played into the plot while also not being in many scenes. In the entirety of the play, Jocasta is Oedipus's mother, his parents got rid of him for the fear that he would kill his father and wed his mother. Jocasta, that they received from the Oracle. Jocasta throughout the story was the Queen of Thebes. Jocasta didn’t believe in any prophets, but she is later on in the play proved wrong. The
The transition from childhood to adulthood is an occurrence that everyone experiences in life. As children are placed in more complex situations that require them to think with new perspectives, they learn lessons, and lose some of their innocence. Overtime, the experiences amalgamate and complete the transformation to adulthood, and the process by which the transition happens is depicted in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Although it is set in the late 1930’s, similarly to adolescents today, the characters are constantly adapting to new situations and becoming more mature. Children like Jem and Scout Finch grow from single-minded youngsters, to seasoned individuals that think with perspective, like their father. Through court-cases,