In the novel Let the Great World Spin, the author, Colum McCann, shows that the kind of love Tilly is in is only for the other partner’s personal good. Tilly is a hooker attempting to live on the streets and make money, but does have a husband, called TuKwik. Tilly says, “TuKwik was flash (...) was coming through” (202-203). Tilly has been with quite a few men, however she stays loyal to only one, which is TuKwik. She explains them as a couple like she was ‘on his arm like a piece of jewelry’. Jewelry is often used to show off wealth, therefore TuKwik is only using Tilly to expose her great looks next to him. She also states that she is one of his five wives. Often people stay faithful and only have one wife, however TuKwik is not faithful
in any and has one too many. Tilly explains how she’s the wife who is the ‘top of the Christmas tree’, although it is possible that he can being saying the same thing to his other wives. If he has told them that Tilly is the greatest, they all would have left him. Tilly then states that she makes the most money of them all, following ‘he treated me nice’. The arrangement suggests that he only loves her and treats her well because of her greater wealth. Additionally, she reveals that she is often beaten by TuKwik, which is clearly something a true lover would not do. TuKwik slams her eye with a metal coffeepot, and she says the doctor kisses her eye and she feels a tickle. The sensation could be the only recognition of real love she has ever felt. The author uses Tilly and TuKwik’s painful relationship (and the inclusion of the connection of Tilly and the doctor) to show the audience that true love is one in which both individuals acknowledge each other and not one in which one is being used in the good of the other.
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 Other Wes Moore, the author and a neighbor have the same name, Wes Moore, and they both begin their lives in similar ways. However, as their lives progress, they begin to part. For example, both “lost” their fathers when they were young. Because of the way their mothers respond to this loss, the boys’ lives begin to separate. Both mothers have different responses to challenges in general, which eventually leads them to respond to their child’s actions in contrasting ways. Throughout this novel, readers learn that depending on how a mother decides to react to the negative actions of their child’s actions, the child can either lead a successful life or lead a life of failure.
People have goals everyday, believe it or not some people think that dreams aren't worth it. I believe that it is worth it to dream because it gives a person a goal, it makes them feel good, and it makes them stronger. I know this from The Pearl, A Cubs video, the Susan Boyle video, and We Beat the streets.
The major conflict in Spunk is the two main male characters fighting over the love of Lena Kanty. The character Spunk is in love with Lena but she is married to Joe. Spunk still struts around town with Lena on his arm in front of the town, getting the loungers to talk. “A giant of a brown skinned man sauntered up the one street of the village…with a small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm” (Hurston). This displays Spunk and Lena not trying to hide their relationship from the towns people or Joe. Hurston also showed Joe’s cowardliness by stating, “Now Joe knew his wife had passed that way. He...
“Theory of Marriage” is one of the poems in which Mark Doty read while visiting the students here at Ramapo College. After reading the title of the poem one expects that the content of this written work will focus on, well the theory of marriage; however, after reading the poem it is to some confusion to find out that the face value of the poem is actually about Doty and his friend at a massage parlor. It was only through Doty’s emphasis on certain words such as “oh” that I later realized his poem is not about the pain that the masseuse was giving to him but rather the pain that marriage caused. The way he read the lines, from the pauses to his facial expression really opened up my eyes to see that nothing is as it seems, especially when it comes to
Christopher Johnson McCandless, the main character in the book “Into the Wild,” had made a lot of friends even though he did not like people. Wayne Westerberg was one of Chris’s friends who he met in a bar. Chris also befriended a girl named Jan Burre. Another person who befriended Chris was a guy named Ronald Franz,
Just like Hurston’s other stories, Spunk deals with the nature of marriage and the struggle between a strong man and a weak man. The setting of the story is in a rural all-black southern town whereby the people of the town speak in Southern African American dialect. Hurston wanted the reader to understand the kind of marriages blacks have and how adultery is apparent in the marriages. The themes in Spunk reflect the lives of the people in the South at the time the short story was written. Masculinity and power are common in the short story as Zora Hurston uses different literary devices for the reader to be able to analyze these themes in the story. Spunk and Lena are having an affair and they are not afraid to parade it for the town people to see them. In addition, Lena is ready to Marry Spunk even after he kills her husband Joe.
Bible states, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov 18:21) (The New American Bible). This is a powerful verse in the Bible. Basically, what this verse is telling us is that through communication, marriage can either be prosperous, or disastrous. An example of this is perfectly depicted in this novel through Knobowtee and Maritole. For much of the journey on the trail Maritole is left by herself with only her baby and her thoughts. Many times, Knobowtee is nowhere to be found when he should be helping his wife with whatever she may need. Maritole tells the reader how the lack of communication between the two has taken its toll on her, “Sometimes I’d see Knobowtee walking in front of me or behind with other men. I felt as though he thought it were my fault we walked the trail. Knobowtee looked away if I saw him. Once I became face-to-face with his mother, but we didn’t speak. I wanted to talk to him, but there was nothing to say” (Glancy 109). Glancy shows us through this quote that the lack of
The very beginning of the novel The Death Cure by James Dashner starts off with Thomas, the protagonist, trapped in a solid white room. He is trapped there for months. As he is in the room, he may have thought “ Oh, me, myself and I, solo ride until I die” (G-Eazy). This is a lyric from G-Eazy’s Me, Myself and I. The song is about being alone and not wanting to be with no one. Although Thomas does wish to see and to somebody, he goes perseveres through his problems just like the singer in the song.
Zora Neale Hurston has been married and divorced twice, which assisted her in developing Joe and Missy May’s marriage. Hurston’s rocky marriage occurred just prior to the writing of “The Gilded Six-Bits” which portrays a marriage replete with infidelity and hatred. Missy May’s infidelity tests the strength of her marriage with Joe, which ultimately succeeds the trials and tribulations. Perhaps Hurston spared Joe and Missy May’s marriage to prove to herself that marriages can stand through infidelity, because neither of her marriages continued through the hardships. Hurston saw marriage as an important commitment capable of forgiveness and recommitment. Hurston creates Joe, as the character that forgives and forgets, possibly this is what she expected or desired in her own husbands. Hurston uses her own life experiences to depict her characters a...
People evolve and so do their ideals. What once attracted you, may now be the very thing that forces you both to compromise. Dewey enjoyed the routine of reeling the wandering girl back in and did so by proposing they get married (Dziuban 167). While it was his idea of bringing her back down to reality, it became Loretta’s personal prison. The prospect of marriage was an added layer of protection for him, but another tie for her. The added responsibility that comes from the transition of the title girlfriend to fiancée eventually helped keep her stagnant as well. He felt more comfortable and confident with this tie in the form of a diamond ring, but it was once again at the price of her wishes. It wasn’t until Loretta actually broke off the engagement that she became free to follow her dreams of becoming an
“Spunk,” by Zora Neale Hurston, is a short story about a man who appears masculine and fearless claiming another man’s wife, but the tables turn by the end of the story. The short story begins with Spunk, the main character, walking off with Lena Kanty. Joe Kanty knows about the affair, but is too timid to confront Spunk.
Hedda needed someone to support her financially, and George Tesman was the only decent man to propose to her. She was forced to cross beneath her social class and marry this commoner in the hopes that he would make a name for himself as a professor. As for love everlasting, Hedda disgustedly comments to Judge Brack, "Ugh -- don't use that syrupy word!" Rather than having become a happy newlywed who has found true love, "Hedda is trapped in a marriage of convenience" (Shipley 445).
“Polygyny is the marriage of one man to more than one woman at the same time” (Powell 167). This structure of marriage is prevalent among the families of Okonkwo’s village, and Okonkwo himself has three wives. A man with many wives was looked upon in a better light than a man with only one wife or no wife at all. In the novel, Okonkwo is said to have had a hard start as a young man because “he neither inherited a barn, nor a title, nor even a young wife” (Achebe 18). Men view wives as a means to gain titles and respect as well as extra labor power for thier combines. Women bring a number of benefits to a man: sexual services, reproductive power, labor, farms for women’s crops, in-laws with goods, land, and livestock. Men typically have only one wife if they lacked wealth (Amadiume 30-31). This is a feminist issue because the people of the village treat women as property that can be inherited. A feminist critic sees how polygyny devalues women and treats them the same as animals. According to Nigerian law, a woman is categorized “as an object who is not quite human” (Bazza 176). In Nigeria, if a woman is involved in polygyny and her husband divorces her for whatever reason, she cannot remarry and often turns to prostitution or extreme poverty for herself and her children (Kunhiyop 44). There is no good that comes from polygyny for