Can someone be two contrasting ideas at once? It seems possible for Cormac McCarthy as through his novella Child of God, he considers this question with the use of the protagonist, Lester Ballard. (). (). Ballard’s animalistic descriptions and amazing feats juxtapose his non-humanness against his super-human capabilities. Immediately, Ballard is illustrated as hostile towards others in the Sevier community as the “half crazy” looking man does not “give a fuck who’s present” even when “ladies [are] present” (7, 15). His attitude towards the townspeople may stem from the lack of a family. Since his father “killed hisself” and his “mother had run off”, Ballard never had a real family (21). Instead, the “simian” attempts to recreate a normal family life with the use of stuffed animals (20). To acquire his companions, Ballard goes to a fair and carefully analyzes the prizes. The obsession to find the right assortment is prevalent as he collects a dozen fish, studies the stuffed toys, and remains persistent in winning them after winning multiple animals (62-64). When he returns to his living space, the animals are placed in a way that gives Ballard comfort, as if they are personified to be the family that he never had (67). Lester cherishes his new kinfolk dearly as he retrieves them from his burning home (105). Ballard’s distance from the norm expresses his need for a familiar bond through alternative means. Ballard cares for his firearm just as much as his stuffed animals. Throughout the novel, other characters continuously witness the gun wrapped around him. Since he has “had that rifle from when he was just almost a boy”, it could represent more than a deadly weapon, but a family figure that decides to stay with him (57). Ballard... ... middle of paper ... ... his new home (106-107, 184). At times, nature does not care for Ballard as he is swallowed into a “submerged creek bank” (156). Somehow, he finds a way to survive even though “he could not swim” and when he reaches out of the bank, he gibbered while sounded “like the mutterings of a band of sympathetic apes” (156-159). Ballard’s talent to stand in the face of horror is genuine, unlike others who try to imitate the ability. One of the narrators admits to fighting with an ape, on the assumption that “[the ape] was goin to do nothin much” (59). It is to the narrator’s surprise that the ape fights back and “he jump[s] right on top of my head and cram[s] his foot in my mouth and [would] like to [tear] my jaw off” (60). Comparative to the rest of Sevier County, Ballard appears to be a very resilient being, an accomplishment that others have tried, but failed to achieve.
From an early age the artist felt ostracized from nature and his only connection to wild life was through the natural museum of history and his uncle’s house, which was filled with taxidermy. His parents were divorced and his father suffered from alcoholism. His tough childhood forced Walton Ford to find humor in the challenging aspe...
In her younger ages, she used a gun for entertainment, she loved to hunt with her father. The author was educated and taught about guns, by her father because of the unsaddling event of her grandmother and mother on highway 66 when the three men that were trying to run them off the road for the large cash amount that was used for cashing payroll checks for the miners. As she got older her gun was there for protection and security. She was more assured with it that she would be able to protect herself.
Henry was an extremely lonely nine-year-old boy whose greatest wish was to get a dog. His parents were busy with their work most of the time and it seemed that Henry did not have any friends, perhaps because they moved so often. A dog would have provided Henry with unconditional love - something in short supply around his house - and would have been the perfect companion. The problem was, his parents did not want dog, which would have been another obligation and something else to take care of. As emotionally detached as his parents were, something else to take care of was just not desirable.
The central theme of the story is the age-old conflict of life and death. On a more personal level with First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the round character and protagonist of "The Things They Carried", it is a conflict of love, his antagonist and of war.
An ardent Catholic as she was, Flannery O’Connor astonishes and puzzles the readers of her most frequently compiled work, A Good Man Is Hard to Find. It is the violence, carnage, injustice and dark nooks of Christian beliefs of the characters that they consider so interesting yet shocking at the same time. The story abounds in Christian motifs, both easy and complicated to decipher. We do not find it conclusive that the world is governed by inevitable predestination or evil incorporated, though. A deeper meaning needs to be discovered in the text. The most astonishing passages in the story are those when the Grandmother is left face to face with the Misfit and they both discuss serious religious matters. But at the same time it is the most significant passage, for, despite its complexity, is a fine and concise message that O’Connor wishes to put forward. However odd it may seem, the story about the fatal trip (which possibly only the cat survives) offers interesting comments on the nature of the world, the shallowness of Christian beliefs and an endeavour to answer the question of how to deserve salvation.
Kurt Vonnegut’s fictional novel “Cat’s Cradle”, indirectly explores issues that parallels into topics such as religion, scientific/technological advancements, political power and much more. Vonnegut’s novel is narrated by a character named Jonah (John). He, Jonah, sets out to write an anthropological book based off of what key people were doing on the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Throughout Vonnegut’s novel it can clearly represents how a writer can become a very destructive person to society. As for this novel, it shows through the uses of parallels that a writer can become a very destructive person to society, these parallels are reflects to real world issues throughout his novel to show this claim, that a writer too can be a destructive person to society.
After he uncovers Teddy’s paper world, the uncle reacts in a manner of ignorance and derision, mocking him for his decision to occupy himself with paper dolls. The uncle dubs Teddy as a “great big lummox … playing with paper dolls”, insulting Teddy for his hobbies with a tone of amusement and hysteria. In spite of Teddy’s agitation, the uncle prefers to make a mockery out of Teddy rather than accepting his unique hobbies, suggesting the uncle’s belief that Teddy’s activities are unfitting of someone of his age. In addition, Teddy’s uncle further aggravates Teddy by continuously ridiculing him, leading him to eventually destroy his treasured paper world. Despite Teddy’s attempts at validating the reality of his paper dolls, the uncle “burst into laughter, his cheeks the colour of a tomato.” Teddy’s uncle persistence in mocking Teddy implies his disapproval of Teddy’s world, believing that his world is ludicrous and absurd for someone of his age to be occupied with. The sustained laughter of Teddy’s uncle is explicit and deliberate, intended to warn Teddy against his immature hobby, an evident symbol of society’s expectation of
In his debut novel entitled We the Animals, Justin Torres exposes a story centered around a dysfunctional family. One can argue that the novel consists of multiple small stories instead of one continuous story. The family consists of a mother, father, and their three young sons. Ranging from ages 7-10, Manny is the first-born, followed by Joel the middle child, and Mijo is the baby of the family. It is told from the point of view of the youngest son, whose name is not revealed until the ending of the novel. Readers find out that his name is Mijo during a touching scene between him and his father. Mijo recounts different experiences him and his brothers faced growing up in their home. Torres uses those experiences to depict how negligence
The city of Spoon River went through many of the same social trends that the United States experienced like social Darwinism and the change in woman roles in society. The idea of social Darwinism had its part in the country as well as in Spoon River. In Spoon River Anthology the character Felix Schmidt found out the hard way of the concept of social Darwinism where only the strong person wins or in this case the one with more money wins. Schroeder the fisherman also shows the example of the new concept spreading through the country. Schroeder tells of the conflict between many different types of animals in relation to the Felix Schmidt case how Schmidt was the weaker of the two and loses all his property including his little doll type house. Schmidt had to become a tenant farmer, since he became a tenant farmer he had to give a portion of his profits and income to Christian Dallman who was Felix’s landlord.
Many find reverence and respect for something through death. For some, respect is found for something once feared. In a passage from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, a man cares for a wolf that has died. The prominent religious motif and the paradox contrasting beauty and terror create a sense of awe that is felt by the narrator as he cares for the wolf.
Religion is a pervasive theme in most of the literary works of the late Georgia writer Flannery O'Connor. Four of her short stories in particular deal with the relationship between Christianity and society in the Southern Bible Belt: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," "The River," "Good Country People," and "Revelation." Louis D. Rubin, Jr. believes that the mixture of "the primitive fundamentalism of her region, [and] the Roman Catholicism of her faith . . ." makes her religious fiction both well-refined and entertaining (70-71). O'Connor's stories give a grotesque and often stark vision of the clash between traditional Southern Christian values and the ever-changing social scene of the twentieth century. Three of the main religious ingredients that lend to this effect are the presence of divine meanings, revelations of God, and the struggle between the powers of Satan and God.
Comparisons and contrasts are important devices which an author may use to help convey his thoughts and feelings about a situation or an event. Joseph Conrad makes use of these devices in his novel Heart of Darkness. Throughout the novel when he was trying to convey a deeper meaning about a situation or a place, he would us a comparison or contrast. The comparative and contrasting themes in the story help to develop Conrad's ideas and feelings in the Heart of Darkness. Light verses dark, the Thames verses the Congo, the Savages compared to the civilized people, and the darkness of both worlds are all contrasts and comparisons that are important to the meaning as well as the understanding of this novel.
In the article, the author talks about Michael Bellesiles a historian who first wrote on gun ownership in America in 1996. Bellesiles was the first to find that gun ownership in early colonial times through the late 19th century was scarce. Up till this article many historians thought that gun were abundant. Bellesiles article to them was controversial. Most people, myself included, have always thought that guns were always of high abundance. This is what the media and history has always taught, to read this article and find that guns were “scarce” was unbelievable.
In Cormac McCarthy's Child of God, Lester Ballard is a recluse who is shunned by the people of his community. Because of his morose nature and his bizarre habits, he stands out among the small rural community. The rejected Ballard turns from being a harmless recluse to a murderer. While he is clearly a victimizer, he is also a victim himself. He is the victim of his own ostracization from the community that he was a part of. While the victimization that he suffers cannot justify his violent actions, it provides some explanation of how Ballard has reached the point of being a victimizer himself.
Mays, Kelly J. ""Puppy"" The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. N. pag. Print.