Criticism of William Saroyans' Five Ripe Pears The boy declared that the pears were both the evidence of theft and the proof of innocence. In William Saroyans Novel, Five Ripe Pears, the critical approach that I decided to use is psychoanalytic criticism. I do know about Five Ripe Pears as a novel because I have done a paper on this novel before but I had no idea what psychoanalytic criticism was. Saroyans device of addressing Mr.Pollard (the principal) directly and using I really dominated the novel for me. It is almost like Saroyan is trying to be back in his childhood years. The style that Saroyan chooses by using figurative language and many metaphors really helped understand this essay for me. For example, Among the leaves I watched …show more content…
With this phrase that Saroyan uses it really threw me off as a reader. He was waiting for the perfect moment, almost like it was not about the pears anymore, but about his life. Saroyan wanted to grab that perfect moment in his life before it decayed or ended. What I really want to know is what does psychoanalytic criticism have to do with William Saroyans works and novels. I thought maybe that if I knew what this was I could apply it to what I already know about William Saroyans writings. I thought that Saroyan would say that psychoanalytic criticism is something that readers use to break down the author. Maybe to get beneath the novel and get those hidden meanings. I thought that this phrase was really just something that people use to explain why the author is talking about a certain subject or why the author has the novel end in a certain why. But what would William Saroyan do with this? A sensible Man is no less nave at six than at sixty, but few men are sensible. I think that if I knew what psychoanalytic criticism means to Saroyan as a writer I might know what he means when he says this. I want to know what this phrase means to Saroyan and what Saroyan wants the reader to get out of this phrase because I feel as a reader that it is an important one to discuss. His coming was like the coming of doom, and when he coughed I thought the whole world shook. In the last paragraph I feel that Saroyan wants his …show more content…
Pollard) to know that the boy did not steal the pears, I created them, and took four to class because I wanted others to see them. (Saroyan 292) Psychoanalytic criticism argues that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author, that a literary work is a manifestation of the author's own neuroses. One may psychoanalyze a particular character within a literary work, but it is usually assumed that all such characters are projections of the author's psyche. Like psychoanalysis itself, this critical endeavor seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilts, ambivalences, and so forth within what may well be a disunified literary work. The author's own childhood traumas, family life, sexual conflicts, fixations, and such will be traceable within the behavior of the characters in the literary work. But psychological material will be expressed indirectly, disguised, or encoded (as in dreams) through principles such as "symbolism" (the repressed object represented in disguise), "condensation" (several thoughts or persons represented in a single image), and "displacement" (anxiety located onto another image by means of association). ( Delahoyde) Despite the importance of the author here, psychoanalytic criticism is similar to New Criticism in not concerning itself with "what the author intended." But what the author never intended (that is, repressed) is sought. The unconscious material has been distorted by
There are many books that have been banned or challenged, but the one that is being presented in this paper is Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. The topic of this paper is to inform you of many things and when you have finished it will have you leaving asking yourself one question. First, a summary of A Clockwork Orange will be shared with you, so that you can have an insight as to how the rest of the paper relates to the book. Second, you will find out where, why and when the book was banned and/or challenged and you will discover what the book contains that would “offend” people. Finally, you will discover the literary merit of this book, which means you will discover if is a work of quality.
At the other end of the spectrum, the novel is a series of vignettes. "I would affirm that, although some of the narratives of Mango Street are 'short stories,' most are vignettes, that is, literary sketches, like small illustrations nonetheless..." says critic Julian Olivares (145). Cisneros has stated that she wants a reader to be able to pick up the novel and understand its meaning from any point within; therefore, the novel is told in a series of vignettes, each of which makes it own point. The vignettes are combined to create a larger story (Olivares 145). "Chanclas" is an example of Cisneros's sound prose vignettes. "Meanwhile that boy who is my cousin... asks me to dance and I can't" (Cisneros 47).This chapter is a literary sketch which illustrates Esperanza's insecurity about being poor.
Overall, Lowry Pei's insightful essay provides, without an excess of convoluted rhetoric, essential and thought provoking interpretations of Welty's multi-layered collection. His effective use of examples from the stories heightens the impact of his generally thoughtful conclusions and his high regard for Welty's talent is apparent. Pei has achieved in effect, however in a necessarily limited way, that communicative aspect of language that marks the goal of many of the characters in The Golden Apples.
Psychoanalysis is the method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts (“Psychoanalysis”). This transfers to analyzing writing in order to obtain a meaning behind the text. There are two types of people who read stories and articles. The first type attempts to understand the plot or topic while the second type reads to understand the meaning behind the text. Baldick is the second type who analyzes everything. Since his article, “Allure, Authority and Psychoanalysis” discusses the meaning behind everything that happens in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” we can also examine “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” in the same manner.
The Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812, commonly known as the Miracle on the Mississippi, was one of the most famous in American history. This engagement often overlooked was the final major battle of the War of 1812, and the most one-sided battle of the war. General Andrew Jackson 's victory at New Orleans ensured the growth and westward expansion of the country. This battle made General Andrew famous, winning a battle the United States was not prepared to fight. There were vast tactical military and leadership failures that nearly the lost war. Scrutiny of the campaign reveals that there was no certainty of an American victory at New Orleans, for had it not been for the mistakes of the British
The Book Thief Short Essay: The Use of Foreshadowing, Irony, and Symbolism in The Book Thief
Riker, R. R., & Fraser, G. L. (2013). The Practice Guidelines for Pain, Agitation, and Delirium.
The author sacrificing the oranges, with its intrinsic value, for the wants of his partner show affection and devotion to his partner. Another contrast that occurs oranges is what the author trades it for, chocolate. The chocolate contrast with the oranges also reinforces its unique value. Chocolate is a dark creamy rich food where a citrus is bright and sweet. This reflects in the whole of the story because it models the sacrifice the narrator is willing to take for his partner and his devotion; Bright for Dark, but both sweet with affection. The symbol of the orange and its contrasts really exemplifies the narrator’s devotion for his
Psychoanalytic criticism takes the techniques of psychoanalysis; a treatment of neuroses developed by Sigmund Freud, and applies them to examine literary works. It is a science concerned not only with the interaction between conscious and unconscious but also with the ways of mental function.
Psychoanalytic criticism is a type of literary criticism that analyzes and classifies many of the forms of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature. As the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines psychoanalysis, as a form of therapy that is concluced ‘by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind' (Barry 96). One of the most popularized psychoanalysts of all time was Sigmund Freud. His theories on repression most directly parallel to Hamlet's actions in the play. This theory states that "much of what lies in the unconscious mind has been put there by consciousness, which acts as a censor, driving underground unconscious or conscious thoughts or instincts that it deems unacceptable. Censored materials often involve infantile sexual desires" (Murfin ). These unconscious desires are seen in dreams, in language, in creative activity, and in neurotic behavior (Murfin ).
Psychoanalytic criticism is based on the analysis of what is portrayed on a text and how it originated. In other words, it is meant to discover the reasons behind the actions of the characters or the author himself on a literary work (Silbergleid, “Making Things Present: Tim O’Brien’s Autobiographical Metafiction). Many of the characters in the novel, The Things They Carried, often demonstrate their fearful and angry side thru their thoughts and actions along the reading. It is also important to understand that although the main character has the same name as the author, they are not the same person. This is due to the fact that the main character in the book, Tim O’Brien, symbolizes Tim O’Brien’s, the writer, memory of the Vietnam
Additionally, the textual support is a skillfully applied in order for the audience to comprehend the deeper, symbolic connotations underneath major concepts in Porter’s short story. However, because there is not a clear or stated thesis statement, the paper has no guideline to refer back to throughout the analysis. While it is clear Walters deeply knows the text, his arguments are somewhat weakened due to the fact there is no central idea to hold the opinions together, just that he simply has a good understanding. Furthermore, the complexity of the vocabulary hinders the reader from fully interpreting the points made by Walter, until read multiple times. This may turn off someone searching for a quick relation of the text, thus he/she may choose another author to read instead. Overall, the analysis is powerful and helpful, once the persons understand what Walter is attempting to convey. The essay will prove helpful in writing a critical analysis of “Flowering Judas” because it contains strong support connecting the ideas in Porter’s text to real
...erary devices; Contrastingly, the second point of view is to become sympathetic with the characters and indulge in the culture of the text, which is most effective when used on foreign or historical stories. In addition, the author stresses the importance of irony as it is a profound literary device that is hard to find for some and usually brings about divine truth, the theme. He then brings various elements of previous chapters to demonstrate ironic situations such as showing betrayal followed by dining together which he has shown.
Like Marx, Freud's theories have provided literary critics with an interpretive structure with a level of meaning and significance left unspoken or undeveloped by Freud himself. Freud used theoretical language for a quantifiable therapeutic end: a rational understanding of the mind. Art was merely a sublimated form of the childish desire to play. "Might we not say that every child at play behaves like a creative writer?" (Freud 651). Rather than founding its ideas upon the assumption that all art is escapist and unhealthy, and all artists being essentially neurotic, Freudian literary criticism dedicates itself to the examination of the theoretical vernacular he applies to the human mind. In defining the aspects of the unconscious mind, the pleasure principle, the repetition-compulsion, Freud implies that the mind is a metaphor making machine. "Freud discovered in the very organization of the mind those mechanisms by which art makes its effects...which makes poetry indigenous to the very constitution of the mind" (Trilling 17). By examining literature within these parameters, Freudian critics hope to better understand and explicate the fundamental connection between personal consciousness and art.
Perhaps he found something that had been missing for ages. Perhaps he was unaware that his inner battleâs manifestation was a message at all until his last words in the story. Hawthorneâs message, though unclear, was a reaction not only to the current way of thinking in his time, but to his own unconsciousâ shortcomings. Jungâs theories, though they came a century later, seem to have captured the essence of Hawthorneâs concerns. His conclusions, based on what all human cultures have in common, also find a home in the interpretive realm. There can only be speculation as to what Hooperâs, or even Hawthorneâs, intent was with this story. It is possible, though, with a psychological interpretation, to find a path to Hawthorneâs message. A psychoanalytical view is only one of the many possible, and, in this writerâs opinion, the most helpful avenues to analytical interpretation, especially when using the theories of Carl Jung, whose assertions not only help in the clinical aspect, but in the search for the common message in all of human literary (this includes oral) tradition. Hawthorneâs Gothic shows, whether conscious or not, the underlying conflict that lies within the people of his time as well as the time in which each of his stories take place. It is with this that the key to understanding the self lies within the commonly untapped recesses of the unconscious, an uncomfortable and unnerving concept for everyone, particularly those that have many things to hide