Critique of Kane and Abel
Jeffrey Archer’s epic novel Kane And Abel could just as easily be two novels; one named Kane and the other Abel, such is the difference between the two characters. From the outset, we are aware of William Lowell Kane’s privilege and of Abel Rosnovski’s poverty. Both are born 15th April, 1905 as male members of the human race. These are the most obvious similarities shared by the two. Their contrasted births introduce us to two different personalities and two different histories, which fate is to overlap at critical moments.
Abel is born in a forest in Poland. A young hunter, alert to the sound of screaming, rushes to the mother and child. Mother is dead and the hunter feels responsible for this child:
“Suddenly the young hunter saw the woman, with her dress above her waist, her bare legs sprayed wide apart. He had never seen a woman like that before. He ran quickly to her side and stared down at her belly, quite frightened to touch. There, lying beneath the woman's legs, was the body of a small, damp, pink animal, attached only by something that looked like a rope......”
Observe the difference of William’s birth:
“.....It never occurred to him, not even for a moment, that the baby might be a girl. He turned to the financial pages and checked the stock market: it had dropped a few points; that damned earthquake had taken $100,000 off the value of his own holdings at the bank, but as his personal fortune remained comfortably over $16 million, it was going to take more than a California earthquake to move him ..."Congratulations, Sir, you have a son, a fine-looking little boy." What silly remarks people make when a child is born, the father thought; how could it be anything but little? The news hadn't yet dawned on him - a son. He almost thanked God. The obstetrician ventured a question to break the silence. "Have you decided what you will name him?" The father answered without hesitation: "William Lowell Kane.....”
Abel is born into a world which thereafter conspired to take his mother. William’s father is so unconcerned with the labour that it fails to stir him from his daily routine of studying the “financial pages”. The pressure for each baby is different. Abel is surrounded by the unconcealed despair and uncertainty which represent being poor.
If the author's father didn’t give her the chance to hunt, and the opportunity to take care of herself and not be afraid, her predicaments would end with probable unfortunate circumstances just like mine. Thankfully her father’s knowledge and words of
... when the grocery store owner called him a thief William began to lose faith in the system. After that there was the Nazi surplus store owner who thought the two were so much alike, the restaurant that wouldn’t give him breakfast because he was three minutes late, the plastic surgeon that made abundantly more money than he made saving people’s lives, and the highway construction that was a result of greed and not necessity.
Through powerful visuals and specific vocabulary, Cormac thoroughly portrays the main character’s sorrow that was prompted by the loss of the animal he highly respects. The protagonist seeks to find a suitable burial site for the wolf, hoping to uncover and reveal the perfect place from Night’s blanket of darkness. Detailed descriptions establish a sense of deep respect as the main character “cradled the wolf in his arms and lowered her to the ground and unfolded he sheet. She was stiff and cold and her fur was bristly with the blood dried upon it” (McCarthy 5-8). The main character’s actions reveal great care and love for the wolf. It is difficult for an individual to cope with the death of an animal he/she places high regard for. Although wolves are often seen as brutal and deadly animals, McCarthy uses elaborate details to portray wolves as majestic and brave creatures. Such contrast is also achieved through a precise use of diction. He touches the “cold and perfect teeth”. The wolf’s “eye turned to the fire gave no light,” until the ...
In 1938 modern novelist and physician, Dr. William Carlos Williams produces a novel “Jean Beicke” which may well be synonymous with his life, and his disposition with the society that emerged in the early twentieth century. The novel not only confers on the deprived state some of the children entering the pediatric hospital the narrator happened to work at. It also delves into the disposition the narrator (possibly other pediatricians) possesses over the neglectful nature of the child’s parents. Surely, this must reflect William’s worldview from a post-world-war standpoint, where the new generations of children are helplessly starving to the point of death. This degradation in human empathy may have been a direct result of either World War 2 or the great depression that followed. Although it does reflect a sense of hope and tenacity as the narrator attempts to overcome his/her prejudices and try to save the life of a young malnourished girl, Jean.
The essay, A Modest Proposal, is a proposal to end the economic dilemma in Ireland by selling the poor’s children, at the age of one, for food. The narrator states, “I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their father, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom a very great additional grievance” (Swift). According to this proposal, by selling the children for food to the wealthy in Ireland many problems will be resolved. The poor mothers will earn money to live on and will not have to raise children, the wealthy will have a new meat source and “an increase in his own popularity among his tenants” (Sparknotes), and the economy will improve because of all of the market action. In the narrator’s eyes, this proposal equals an all around win for the people of Ireland and he cannot see any objection to his plan.
Most parents want the best for their children: financially, emotionally, and physically. However, sometimes there are external barriers that prevent full growth in these areas. These are the limitations that no parent feels comfortable speaking about because all they do is bring back memories of attempted success, yet never quite reached. In Tillie Olsen’s narration, I Stand Here Ironing there is a mother who is concerned for her daughter, Emily after a full nineteen years have passed. She begins to remember what her socioeconomic standings represented through the eyes of Emily, who is only now like a blossomed flower. There were struggles from both ends. Mother had to raise her daughter without the father, who had left due to poverty and mother also had to continue working a job to provide for food and for other survival necessities, which seemed to affect Emily’s happiness- which mother is now reminiscing about. Set during the Great Depression, the reader can understand that there will be financial shortcomings and many challenges that go along with this
It is the year 1432 in France. A 12-year-old boy, who remains anonymous to this day, is hung by the neck on a metal a hook in the castle of a recognizable stranger. His innocent body shakes as he looks to pull himself upwards while gasping for some air. He gags continuously and chokes on his blood, which now accumulates below his feet. Approaching him is a proud man of great elegance and beauty. He has bob-like hair and a short trimmed bear and mustache (Wolf). Surrounding the man is a group of tight knit men what seem to be the man’s accomplices that have led the boy there (Wolf). The man then undresses hesitantly below and openly shows his erectile state. He grabs the boy and rapes him aggressively throbbing back and forth (Wolf). When he is done being pleasured he brings down the child and consoles him from what has happened. Near death the man once again rapes him and later kills him (Wolf).
As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspiration memoir of one child's determination to survive.
The narrator alludes to three plausible legends involving the hunter, the witch, and the bride, who all encountered men who transformed into wolves. She references possible explanations for this phenomenon, citing the Devil tra...
Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton and Charles Dicken’s Bleak House show many similarities and differences of poverty and offer slim opportunities to resolve the character’s situation. Addressing these issues in this essay, I shall explore how the characters try to improve their situations along with outside influences that either help make their environment better or worse.
The moon gleams luminously down on the clearing, revealing a small village that appears to be whittled out of the jungle. On the outermost edge of a cluster of small buildings there sits a hut, all of its windows lit by firelight. All of a sudden a fierce squalling cry pierces the quiet night. The mother lying inside the hut breathes out a sigh of relief as she wipes her sweaty brow. After all these months, her baby has finally made his way into the world. She reaches out and grabs a hold of her newborn son, bringing him up to her so she can see his tiny face. As she looks down on him, a whimper of dismay escapes her. It’s a monster! Surely this horrifying creature cannot be her baby! His face seems to be split from the lower lip up; he looks like he is snarling at her. As she watches, he utters another loud cry. The ghastly tissue where his cherubic mouth should be flaps wildly. Her heart sinks in grief as she realizes that all her pain has been for naught. This monster cannot be allowed to live. They will have to dispose of him.
Upon reading more closely, the story is revealed to present a tragic journey of a man who has lost his sanity but seeks solace in the materialistic comforts of his old life. The story succeeds in making a number of statements about human nature: that wealth is the most powerful measure of social status and anyone without it will face ostracization; that denial of one 's mistakes and unfortunate circumstances only leads to more pain; that even the most optimistic people can hold dark secrets and emotional turmoil inside them. All of these themes compel the reader to ponder their real-life implications long after the story is
The stranger remarks as to how he has had numerous problems at sea, and had afterwards been held captive by some Indians. He thinks it is wrong that the father of the child has not been named or come forward.
Lloyd and his mother has a bad economy. They live in the Western Sewage Park in a two-roomed house. In the text, it does not have so much information about their economy, but I assume it is bad, since they can afford a “cheap fan on Princess Street”. We get an aspect of how Lloyds father’s economy is, but it is not that good either. He has been fired from a job that he didn’t made enough money from. Lloyds father had ambitious plans, that he could be somebody, but God was against him.
There was an impending doom coming to the small town of Calamity. Unbeknownst to the citizens it would come firstly upon a church on the outskirts of a town. A few people were inside as the doom came closer. Preacher Tom was the first one in the church to sees what would haunt the town and was scared out of his wits. He pushes a young woman out of the doorway as he speeds into the church. He continues to bar the door and close up all of the windows as the surprised group stares on at him with suspicion. He dropped to his knees and prayed as a loud noise echoed through the building. The crowd began to scream as the windows rattled and the building swayed. All of a sudden, a whimper could be heard from the back side of the building. The sound was unmistakable, it was the tiny voice of little Lisa Cunningham. Mrs. Hamm hobbled quickly over to the door before anyone else could react. She threw the door open as Father Ted finally came to his senses. Lisa flung herself through the door into the arms of Mrs. Hamm. Father Ted lunged for the door and slammed his shoulder into it right before an unknown force bashed against the other side. Mrs. Hamm grasped the child as and attempted to console her as a sharp pain erupted in her breast. She looked down and saw a dark stain growing on her blue dress and jerked the child away. Everyone’s eyes went wide as they saw the scene unfolding before them. Lisa stood smiling; face covered in blood, and began to laugh hysterically. Mrs. Hamm was becoming hysterical as well, as she noticed that one side of her chest had become smaller than the other as a huge chunk had been bitten away by the child.