Central Themes of Gilbert Keith Chesterton's Essay 'In Lying in Bed'
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was one of the greatest English authors ever to live. He wrote many essays and novels. He had much time to do this because he was a large man and could not move around easily. In Gilbert's essay, "In Lying in Bed" his deep understanding of humanity clearly evident. He speaks informally and rambles like the common speaker does. In my analysis I will describe and explain the central themes of Chesterton's essay.
The first theme that is expressed in the essay is the brilliance of what one can do while lying in bed. He explains this by giving an example of painting while lying in bed. If you let your mind relax, which one tends to do while lying down, many thoughts will enter into your mind. He expresses this as a positive aspect of lying down in bed. He also writes that you will notice many items which are completely idiotic such as wall paper, that has one particular design that is repeated.
The second theme that he expresses is the hypocrisy of people towards lying in bed. He goes on by explaining his theme by using symbolism. He says that people say that lying in bed is not healthy and is a waste of time but then proceed to lie in bed for the wrong reasons such as beauty. His theme of hypocrisy is essentially true in the world today, parents tell there children to stop lying around and do something productive, and yet they sleep in until twelve or one o'clock on the weekends.
The last theme expressed is the practice of lying in bed for the wrong reasons. People lie in bed for beauty, sloth, and for other scientific reasons. This is an incorrect practice. Unless one is seriously sick, one should lie in bed because he has the urge to relax. What he is trying to say in his theme of the "right reasons to lie in bed" is that one should need no justification or any reason at all to lie in his bed.
He was tired and he felt he ought to be getting to bed” (Johnson 39) The fact that he has the mental capacity to analyze his different options in the situation (whether or not to stay up or go to bed) and conclude which one is the “right” choice reinforces….. This process requires a high level of maturity and awareness to be responsible enough to be able to consider something separately from what one prefers or wants. According to Piaget’s study “The Moral Judgement of the Child” children do not develop the ability to even begin to understand their role in relation to others and the rules until the age of 7 or 8, saying “(they) begin to concern themselves with the question of mutual control and of the unification of the rules” (Piaget 17). One may interpret this situation as Harold deciding for himself whether or not he wants to go to bed, thus taking control over his own life, but the intangible force in his mind that is driving him to go to bed does not come from the “child” side of him. The creative, whimsical idea to build a mountain to find his bed resembles the imaginative nature of a child, but the presence of a responsible, moral conscious resembles the much more mature, adult side to Harold. Although Johnson is trying to convey the freedom Harold possesses throughout his journey, there is some older, powerful force controlling his decisions, possibly showing how the individual freedom socialism strives for is idealized because there will always be some figure present with more authority.
What is the message the author is trying to convey? How does (s)he convey this to the reader?
...s his father tucks him into bed. He reflects on their lives. They have had their ups and downs, their struggles and their victories, and all the way his strong hand has held onto him tightly and never let him go. And Theodore has hung on to his father noticing that even though his knuckle was battered, he still didn’t let go of him. He writes that every step Papa missed it hurt him too. He doesn’t care if his ear scraped the buckle, he is just glad to be along for the ride. He is proud of his father and his legacy. With the image of his Papa waltzing off to bed the little boy is still clinging to his shirt. With this image he is letting the reader know that not only does is he proud of his father and all that he taught him in the short time he was with him, but he is clinging onto his memory every day.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print. The.
Principal themes in the poem consist of consumerism, capitalism, and most importantly greed. The poem described the journey of the poet as he went--goes through an implied spiritual transformation starting with getting annoyed with one of his students wanting to yell at him “how full of shit” he is, after that he recalled his dream, after dowsing off, he recalled something else a poem by Karl Marx a major communist. “I was listening to cries of the past when I should have been listening to the cries of the future,” after the fact, he came to an understanding with the student while imagining the mediforeical nightmare. Grouping themes together there are dreams, nightmares, waking life, dream life, sleeping, and clarity exactly, and being aware that the person is dreaming. When Hoagland references people drowning in the river, it could be compared to people working across seas in different countries, manufacturing goods for the average American while the workers live in harsh environments, but no one thinks of that when running around in new Nike shoes. The “you” in the pleasure boat is American people or America frankly, or even the ideals of consumerism were the normal person needs a new IPhone ever year when it is released. In the poets dream when he talks about stabbing his father and “Ben Fra...
...o realize hypocrisy and cruelty of the reactionary force and puerility and weakness of the progressive force1And therefore he advises humankind to keep the clear - headed mind , to try to overcome their own weakness , to endeavor to struggle against the reactionary class and the reactive force within their own class , and to strive for their happy life. So this great piece owns historical and realistic significance.
The sleep motif is very enlightening, in that key moments of Edna’s awakening are preceded by sleep. Sleep, especially for those who are depressed, is used as a way of escape, but in this novel sleep is used mystically as a way for Chopin to show that many things happen while Edna is sleeping that leads to awakening. In this way, the reader can only guess what occurs during sleep.
The theme is the beauty in things around her. “At morn to wake more heav’nly, more refin’d, so shall the labours of the day begin. More pure and more guarded than the snakes of sin”
Another theme is the ability of a person to have some dignity even when it feels like the world is against you. These themes remain important today because it teaches us what can happen to a person if their dreams are never fulfilled. For example, Walter had a dream to open a liquor store, however this dream never came true after Willy (the person Walter gave the money too to open the store) betrayed him. He broke down and felt hopeless. It also teaches us that dignity is important, Walter also portrayed his need for dignity after he rejects the offer of Mr. Linder from the“home improvement
Finally, a plausible theme that has also been presented by Hughes is the theme of music and its importance. He goes into discussing about how music helps the man to soothe the suffering and hardships of his past. The music from the trumpet is compared to ‘honey mixed with liquid fire’ (19-20). Hughes notes that the music is hot and sweet, which indicates that music is great as opposed to weary suffering. In the last stanza, music is compared to ‘hypodermic needle/ to his soul’ (39-40). He points out that music is under the man’s skin and in his souls where it soothes him softly and relieves his burden.
Themes: One of the first themes of the text is “reluctant resistance.” This theme is apparent throughout the text as well because it spoke large volumes for the colonial/early republic culture of America. Women were supposed to be reluctant of any sexual advance, lest they be seen as immoral, so men could not properly determine if the reluctance was true, or
The poem starts off with a young girl “awake at dawn” who is dreaming by silk curtains. The young girl has fragrance “spilling” out of her hair “half sandalwood, half aloes” this sets the mood for the poem. If they did not explain the fragrance spilling out of the girl's hair and her waking up by silk curtains they wouldn't have set the calm mood for the poem. Most girls don't pay attention to there hair and the way they wake
113- The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. of the book. Vol.
It shows the view of how it a lie and the way you could reach the dream is survive of the fittest, to pretending to love the American dream when deep inside it something that make you feel like it is a nightmare.