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Literary analysis essay for everyday use
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Choosing a location for a vacation is a sacred decision, one that will deeply affect your future. Does reading this statement sounds a little overdramatic, considering it’s just a vacation? Probably so. Well in the novel “Deliverance” by James Dickey, four characters future absolutely depended on their location of their trip.
James Dickey was a novelist and poet born in Buckhead, Georgia in 1923. He became a teacher at the University of South Carolina and other universities but later dedicated his life to poetry. James began writing poetry at the age of twenty-four. His works were known for his poetic writing style and combining the themes of nature and civilization. In 1960, Dickey published his first book, “Into the stone.” He received a National Book Award for his book, “Buckdancer's Choice,” and his books “Deliverance,” “To the White Sea,” and “Striking In,” became his most notable works.
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Aiming to get away, the guys choose to take on a remote river that will soon be covered by a dam. They take everything needed for the trip: tents, canoes, and bows and arrows. The four men, Ed, Lewis, Bobby, and Drew, are all prepared to go out into the solitudes of the South, but nothing could prepare the men for what was to come as their weekend progressed. They travel through the choppy river rapids and rest along the banks. As Bobby and Ed get ahead of the other two guy on the river, they decide to rest along the bank. What was supposed to be a weekend trip quickly turned into a fight for survival after meeting two mountain men. The narrator, Ed, is tied to a tree with a gun to his head, while Bobby is experiencing a horrific tragedy. In the raw, exhilarating novel, arrows and shotguns are used for more than just deer
According to the people the elk and deer were plentiful in the Black Hills, it was late and the hunters decided to make camp in a secluded narrow path, before they went to sleep they prepared their weapons. While they were all sleeping a giant snake encircled the camp, one of the hunter woke up at first he thought he was dreaming; so he closed his eye and opened them again realizing it was real he woke the other hunters. Neither of the hunters has ever seen such a huge snake. It all seemed like a bad dream to them; they were huddled together in confusion deciding on what they were going to do next. They finally came to a decision that they would jump over it. They gathered their stuff and threw it over first, then youngest to oldest they jumped next. Except the youngest one was afraid to jump first so he let the others go before him. At last the youngest hunter jumped he got halfway over when the snake lifted its head. The hunter landed on the ground, he was unconscious and the snake just looked at him. When the young hunter, woke the snake left, the young hunter had told them what the snake said; some hunters thought he was just messing around but others believe him. The snake told that they are to travel north to east, until they come to Flat River. Then they are to follow it into a low valley. Once they find a single lodge with a red door. They are going to the door they will
The viewpoint of the world that the narrator has, completely alters as certain events take place throughout the story. His outlook on nature transforms into a wholly different standpoint as the story progresses. As his tale begins, the narrator sees himself as a tough guy or “bad character”. He believes he is invincible. There is nobody as cool as he is or as dangerous as him and his friends are. With his followers, the narrator goes to Greasy Lake, he takes in the nature that surrounds him. He thinks of himself to be a kid who knows everything. To him, the lake represents a night of misbehavior and partying. The unhealthy, treacherous atmosphere of Greasy Lake is alluring, fun, and exciting to someone as threatening as he is. “We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because we wanted to snuff the rich sent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl take off her clothes and plunge into the festering murk, drink beer, smoke pot, howl at the stars, savor the incongruous full-throated roar of rock and roll against the primeval susurrus of frogs and crickets. This was nature.” This quote gives a clear idea of what the narrators perception of what not only nature is, but of what the world is. He lives to have fun. He is fearless and lives for the moment. All that life is to him is sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, Rainsford, is a smart, clever, resilient man who keeps a cool head in stressful and dangerous situations. Rainsford is not allowed to leave the island he washes up on after he falls off the yacht he was traveling on, because the mentally disturbed general wants to hunt people with Rainsford. Rainsford makes a deal with the general to win his freedom. If Rainsford can evade Zaroff for three nights, then Rainsford is free to leave the island. During the hunt, Rainsford must think quickly and be resourceful in order to stay alive. Rainsford is an extremely experienced hunter who writes books about his hunting experiences. When Rainsford is running from the
The killing of the deer is symbolically the main point in this short story as it is Robert’s psychological outburst with him trying to face his wife’s death and finally becoming content with
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
The times are changing and he's unwilling to give up the past. The world is becoming modernized and people like him, cowboys and ranchers, are slowly disappearing. He runs away from home because he desires to find peace within himself as well as a place where he can feel he belongs. Here begins the adventure of John Grady and his best friend Lacey Rawlins. It is important to note here the means of travel. The story is taking place after World War II, a time when cars are fairly common, yet these boys decide to go on horseback, like in the fading old days. This is just another concept of how they are unwilling to give up a fading past. When they first begin their journey, the boys are having a good time. In a sense they?re two buddies on a road trip with no real motive. Rawlins even mentions, ?You know what?I could get used to this life.? Then they meet Blevins, the foil in the plot that veers the two boys of their course and also has plays a role in the lasting change of their personality. Their meeting with him gives an insight into Grady?s character. Rawlins is against letting Blevins come along with them, but because of John?s kind nature he ends up allowing Blevins to come. It?s because of this kindness and sense of morality, he gets into trouble later on.
In John Krakauer’s novel Into The Wild, the reader follows the life of a young man who, upon learning of his father’s infidelity and bigamy, seems to go off the deep end, isolating himself by traveling into the wild country of Alaska, unprepared for survival, where he died of starvation at 67 pounds.
In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist (Rainsford) struggled with the actions of the antagonist (General Zaroff) throughout his adventure. The images used to describe the island, deadly swamp, and castle show that it is inhabited and a dangerous place with the use of setting, imagery, and the tone Connell shows Rainsford’s difficulties, persistence, and triumph to the audience. By using these key aspects, Connell makes important connections to the theme while alluding to hunting as the main concept of this whole adventure.
Coming home from the grueling experience of being a soldier in World War I, he felt ecstatic when he saw a trout swimming in the stream. The perils of war took a devastating toll on Nick, as he suffered from a physical wound while in action. The camping trip here is like an oasis, which will let Nick to recover from all the distress. “Nick looked down into the pool from the bridge. It was a hot day. A kingfisher flew up from the stream. It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout. They were very satisfactory...Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.” (178) The healing process begins here with Nick re-acclimating himself with one of his favorite hobbies: fishing. “He started down to the stream, holding his rod...Nick felt awkward and professionally happy with all the equipment hanging from him...His mouth dry, his heart down...Holding the rod far out toward the uprooted tree and sloshing backward in the current, Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive, out of the danger of the weeds into the open river. Holding the rod, pumping alive against the current, Nick brought the trout in...” (190,193,195) Nick finally reels in a trout after the big one got away, getting to the feeling of relaxation and washing away the horrors of war. By pitching his tent out in the forest and being able to function by himself so smoothly, Nick shows how he represents the trait of stoicism. He did not complain or stop living, coming back with the trauma of war. Going camping, he is able to relieve himself through using all the nature around him, showcasing his
Just like in every society, in every story there are conflicts. What is the line between man and beast? What separates the hunter from the hunted? Where does sport end and murder begin? In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, a man by the name of Sager Rainsford, is trapped on an island in the middle of the ocean. A simple adventure to the jungles of Rio de Janeiro soon becomes a story of terror, survival and escape when Rainsford realizes he is not alone on the seemingly deserted island. Soon after arriving, he meets the psychopath, General Zaroff, a Cossack aristocrat who is also an experienced hunter. Zaroff entices Rainsford by telling him there is big game on the island, the biggest there is. The Most Dangerous Game illustrates that there are men, and then there are monsters when Rainsford, unknowing of what Zarloff’s true intentions are, becomes entangled in a frightening game of where the hunter, soon becomes the hunted.
Norman Maclean provides a deeply personal account of growing up in the transitional time of Missoula Montana and his beliefs about what life means. The novella takes a deep focus on the geological aspects of the Blackfoot river as well as the emotional impact it had on him, using the river to symbolize his life and memories. Maclean also uses the river as a tool to understand himself writing, “I became the river by knowing how it was made, Know it so well it’s inside him.” Knowing where you came from and what you experienced is how you form your identity, by saying he knows how the river was made he knows how he was made and who he is, because his life and memories are the river. The film adaptation instead embellished the characters in the story and focused on Norman’s interactions with them in order to reveal his thoughts on growing up. Both are quality productions, but provide different context of the natural world. The novella is a story of nature and a man whereas the film is a story of a man and his relationships with nature as a secondary character. Each providing interesting thoughts and ideas about the central theme of what it means to grow
The final three chapters of George Bowering’s Shoot! Are perhaps the most powerful. After a novel-worth of fighting and being reckless, the law finally catches up to the Mclean boys and Hare. The characterization of the McLean boys and Alex Hare is opposed throughout their court scene. These boys, who have always been described as wild, now appear to be so small and frightened. Through these scenes, we watch the court proceedings of children who killed in cold blood, yet we see some form of innocence within them. Despite these circumstances, it is difficult to not see the children within these men, as some of them are, in modern times, children. A greater understanding into the characters of Archie McLean and Alex Hare shows that the horrors
Buck, the main character, is introduced to the Primitive which was brutal but necessary. According to the text,” After a particularly Fierce blow he had crawled to his feet, too dazed to rush. He staggered limply about, the blood flowing from his nose mouth and ears, his beautiful coat sprayed and flecked with bloody slaver.” (p. 15, paragraph 1). The man in the red sweater introduced Buck
Edwin Arlington Robinson, the author of the world renown poem “Richard Cory”, was born in Head Tide, Maine on December 22, 1969. Robinson’s early difficulties led many of his poems to have a dark suspicion and his stories to deal with an American life gone bad. At the age of 21, Edwin entered Harvard University as a special student. He took classes in English, French, and Shakespeare, as well as one on Anglo-Saxon that he later dropped. Robinson’s desire while studying was to be published in the Harvard literary journals. Within the first 14 days, the Harvard Advocate published Robinson’s “Ballade of a Ship”. This was the beginning of Robinson’s writing career.
The deer runs off. The men are pissed off with losing their game. Another scream occurs as terrifying as the first.