Black widows are creatures surrounded in mystery. Falsified facts are formed around the black widow by those who have never seen one. It is assumed that black widows are wicked beasts that inhabit hostile traits. “Caught in the Widow's Web,” by Gordon Grice, describes the black widow as an untidy, unorganized beast that has traits that extend far beyond what would be evolutionarily appropriate. Nevertheless, no matter how little a person knows about a black widow, fear is still struck in the hearts of the people that the widow scurries past. While speaking in a candid tone, Grice maps out the malevolent traits of black widows. He relays this information, not only by sharing personal accounts, but also by using other channels of writing. Through the use of modes, literary devices, and captivating diction, Grice emphasizes that the unknown power of the black widow is not one to be taken lightly. By taking the reader back to when he was a boy in the cellar of his farmhouse, Grice shows that from a young age, it was implanted in his mind that black widows are horrible creatures. The power of the black widow is highlighted when his speaks about how his mother “narrat[ed] her technique in exactly the hushed voice she used for discussing religion or sex” (para. 7). His mother brought her children to the cellar just to show …show more content…
them her killing a spider. His mother making a big deal about killing the spider gives the children the impression that black widows are dangerous and they must be destroyed if seen. Grice also recalls how his mother “smashed the widow onto the stick” (para. 7) when they were inside the cellar. This solidifies even more that the spider is dangerous because it was not just gotten rid of, but instead smashed with a stick. That event could have led to his interest with the black widow. After that day, he “took away the understanding that widows [are] actively malevolent” (para. 8). Through this story, the reader can infer that black widows were always seen as godawful and evil to him. Not only do the flashbacks play a part in the effectiveness of this essay, imagery is used to show that black widows are seen as hostile. The way that Grice describes how his mother scraped the spider on the floor, “into a paste” (para. 7), shows how powerful his mother perceives the spider to be. For any normal spider, using a shoe to crush it would be sufficient; but for the black widow, the spider must be undeniably dead. Grice’s mother wants nothing to be left up to chance. Additionally, when talking about how the widow kills its prey, incredible imagery is used. The spider sounds like a literal monster when it “settles down to suck out the liquified innards out of the prey” (para. 3). Being able to describe how the spider catches its prey, Grice is easily able to make the spider out to be a monster. The last way Grice achieves his purpose is through his word choice.
When describing the spider, Grice uses words with negative connotations. “… [V]oracious carnivore… motiveless evil in nature… dangerous creature…” are all examples of words that have a negative connotation to them. The reason he uses such sophisticated words is to give more gravity to the situation. Also, he explains the venom of the spider provides “no evolutionary advantages” (para. 13). In fact, the venom is actually “thousands of times more virulent than necessary” (para. 12). When reading about this spider, it is made clear that the spider is harmful and should not be sought
out. In closing, the black widow is an awful, scary creature that needs to be disposed of immediately if ever stumbled across. The spider has too much power and venom for its own good. Its dangerousness is matched only by its mysteriousness. Grice was brilliantly able to exemplify these things through multiple channels. By using narrative, he was able to relate on a personal level and give weight to how his mother felt about the spider. Through imagery, Grice allows the reader to visualize how the black widow was disposed of in the narrative. His imagery also gives the perception of a negative connotation to how his mother talked about the spider. Finally, his word choice gave an overall sinister feel to how the spider was supposed to be received and thought about. The only thought that should cross the reader’s mind after the essay is: what happens if a black widow makes itself known in real life?
Derricotte’s conclusive paragraph begins with, “My mother helps me. She sends me signs: her African violet bloomed for the first time on my windowsill three years after her death, on the first day of her death month…I love my mother now in ways I could not have loved her when she was alive, fierce, terrifying, unpredictable, mad, shame-inducing, self-involved, relentless, and determined by any means necessary” (53). The timing of her love for her mother became insignificant. It wasn’t about when she finally reached the point of loving her mother but the mere fact that she loved her. The utilization of descriptive writing and the emotional implementation in “Beginning Dialogues” are a couple of ways Derricotte enraptures her readers in this short story. Regardless of a painful past or a traumatic childhood she allows herself to see that love truly conquers
With its ominous black body and blood-red markings, the black widow spider emanates an air of evil. The widow, notorious for its excessively lethal bite and vicious, voracious nature, has mystified scientists for years. Inspired by a fascinating, frightening childhood encounter with a black widow, essayist Gordon Grice discusses his lifelong fascination with the spider and explores the enigma surrounding it in his work “Caught in the Widow’s Web.” With a tone of malice and abhorrence, Grice focuses on the widow’s unnecessarily potent venom, a physical trait that seems to defy reason, evolution, and even the cosmic design. Through his use of the process and narrative modes of writing, diction with a tone of malice,
Grice uses symbolism to show how the black widow spider represents evil in our world. “The widow’s venom is, of course, a sound reason for fear . . . It produces sweats, vomiting, swelling, convulsions” (para. 11). This quote shows evil through the widows poisonous venom, which is deadly. Grice also states in the essay that “the female’s habit of eating her lovers invites a strangely sexual discomfort; the widow becomes an emblem for a man’s fear of extending himself into the blood and darkness of a woman” (para. 10). Grice uses imagery throughout the essay to convey to readers his view of the black widow spider. Grice also uses metaphors in his essay to explain the life of a black widow spider “performing a gustatory act of that magnitude, but I have seen them eat scarab beetles heavy as pecans” (para. 4). This metaphor explains the black widows capabilities in comparison with something everyone
Throughout “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle is met with kindness and cruelty when interacting with his brother. The shifting attitude of Doodle’s brother is a wonderful example of the shifting emotions of the people around the world. Just like Doodle’s brother, people are happy, sad, jealous, prideful, angry, cruel, and kind. Although times and circumstances may change, people can’t live without their
At first glance, the reader could not imagine a more incompatible and diverse pair than Blanche DuBois and Fernie Mae Rosen, two women from very contrasting backgrounds and racial standings. However, these two women share similar passions and mental disorders, showing both their vulnerability to the world and mutual personal energies. Both weave an alternate reality inside their psyches that deceive them into believing that life is not worthwhile, and yet both appear to live life to various sexual and emotional extremes. Such compatibility shows the correlation in their mutual lifestyles despite incongruous backgrounds. Men always seem to be at the root of their problems, despite their clear and discernible negative reactions to the opposite sex. The examples of a virginal aura that eclipses their sexual promiscuity, their mutual hatred for the world and the people that surround them, and their transformation from passion into real madness show the reader that they have more in common than one would think.
The females begin responding “stiffly” rather than “quietly”(7) as before. This adjective usage serves to support the speech even more by allowing readers to see the progression from silence to a bold rebellion in the women regarding their husbands, for “by hiding the canary Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are also going against their husbands” (Bee2). Indeed, this act was the major act of defiance that secured the women’s strengthened devotions to each other rather than their husbands. Peters especially undergoes a drastic transformation when she eventually joins in as “support of her fellow oppressed women” (Block B 1). When, at the climax of the story, the bird is hidden from the men in the sentimental tin box, Glaspell exhibits the tension with the selection of detail. She chooses to focus on the clammy hands of Mrs. Peters as she stuffs the tin away and the quivering voice of Mrs. Hale as she denies knowing any information about the crime. The descriptions of the seemingly miniscule and weakening objects around her house match the “quiet desperation” (Schotland 3) Foster repressed until it overflowed the night before. Considering that the adjectives show how burdensome it is for the women to conceal the evidence, it truly demonstrates how strong the relationships between them has grown based
Thesis: Glaspell utilized the image of a bird to juxtapose/compare/contrast the death of Mrs. Wright’s canary to the death of Mrs. Wright’s soul.
Through vivid yet subtle symbols, the author weaves a complex web with which to showcase the narrator's oppressive upbringing. Two literary
Louise, the unfortunate spouse of Brently Mallard dies of a supposed “heart disease.” Upon the doctor’s diagnosis, it is the death of a “joy that kills.” This is a paradox of happiness resulting into a dreadful ending. Nevertheless, in reality it is actually the other way around. Of which, is the irony of Louise dying due to her suffering from a massive amount of depression knowing her husband is not dead, but alive. This is the prime example to show how women are unfairly treated. If it is logical enough for a wife to be this jovial about her husband’s mournful state of life then she must be in a marriage of never-ending nightmares. This shows how terribly the wife is being exploited due her gender in the relationship. As a result of a female being treated or perceived in such a manner, she will often times lose herself like the “girl
Since its first appearance in the 1886 collection A White Heron and Other Stories, the short story A White Heron has become the most favorite and often anthologized of Sarah Orne Jewett. Like most of this regionalist writer's works, A White Heron was inspired by the people and landscapes in rural New England, where, as a little girl, she often accompanied her doctor father on his visiting patients. The story is about a nine-year-old girl who falls in love with a bird hunter but does not tell him the white heron's place because her love of nature is much greater. In this story, the author presents a conflict between femininity and masculinity by juxtaposing Sylvia, who has a peaceful life in country, to a hunter from town, which implies her discontent with the modernization?s threat to the nature. Unlike female and male, which can describe animals, femininity and masculinity are personal and human.
When people finally see the flaws, they wake up and the dream ends.” Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” is a haunting poem that tells the story of a seemingly perfect wife who dies, and is immortalized in a picture by her kind and loving husband. This seems to be the perfect family for a tragic accident. Upon further investigation and dissection of the poem, we discover the imperfections and this perfect “dream family” is shown for what it really is, a relationship without trust. The deceased wife appeared to be completely perfect and caring.
She passionately raves at length about the horrible deaths and her experience of loved ones dying around her; “all of those deaths… Father, Mother, Margaret, that dreadful way!” The horrific visions of bloated bodies and “the struggle for breath and breathing” have clearly cast a permanent effect on Blanche’s mind. She talks of the quiet funerals and the “gorgeous boxes” that were the coffins, with bitter, black humour. The deaths of Blanche and Stella’s family are important to the play as they highlight the desperation of Blanche’s situation through the fact that she has no other relative to turn to. This makes Stella’s decision at the end of the play seem even harsher than if Blanche had just simply shown up on her doorstep instead of going elsewhere.
Louise Gluck’s, “Gretel in darkness” is a haunting poem about the horrors the speaker, Gretel, faces and tries so hard to forget. The poem takes place after the witch’s death and Gretel has saved her brother and herself from her torment. Everything should be fine, Gretel says, “This is the world we wanted. All who would have seen us dead are dead.” This is suggestive of a dream that is achieved and portraying a character that is full of urgency, bitterness and violence. This contradicts with the title, “in darkness”, giving it an ironic tone. Although she feels regret for this unimaginable act, she originally did it for her brother. On the other hand it also seems Gretel is unsatisfied since she feels all this guilt and is haunted by the death of the witch, the witch Gretel killed. “I hear the witch’s cry,” Gretel states.
The Infant Child plays a huge role in Blanche’s early life. As a result of her mother’s death, Blanche has a fearful temperament, and
In both ‘Eve Green’ and ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, the protagonists experience fear in many guises. Although traumatic events in both Eve and Antoinette’s lives do lead to moments of sudden, striking fear, fear is also presented as having the potential to be subtle and muted, and therefore, “haunting”. Fletcher and Rhys seem to suggest that this form of fear is more damaging to the psyche than fear in its more conspicuous manifestations, as it is more deeply intertwined with the characterisations of the protagonists, therefore allowing for the fear to “pervade” the novels. As a result, it could be argued that fear has an almost constant presence in each novel, particularly because fear is seemingly linked to other prominent themes in each novel.