The Secret Path & Gord Downie By Tessa “The Secret Path” by Gord Downie is an influential piece of art. Released in 2016, the album/poetry graphic novel/movie covers the story of Chanie Wenjack, a young twelve year old boy who died after escaping residential school in 1966. This beautifully written and performed true story demonstrates the grim reality of Canadian residential schools. As Gord Downie’s last project, “The Secret Path” held great significance and purpose for him. Downie was diagnosed with glioblastoma only a year prior to the release of the project, a form of brain cancer with a 6.9% survival rate, so he knew his end was more than likely. In Gord’s words, “This is the best thing I've ever done, and by best I just mean (it) helps my heart a little (.) Nothing else really matters to me.” This shows how …show more content…
Chanie’s story shows the importance of resilience, illustrated by the fact that despite his unimaginable hardship, he kept walking, even if all he was headed towards was death. This is metaphorically the same situation Downie was in while creating “The Secret Path”. The theme and purpose of this piece is not only gut wrenching, but inspiring. Gord used a variety of effective techniques to depict these topics, such as recurring motifs and visual cues. The mood and symbolism of The Secret Path has resulted from Gord Downie’s own life and feelings regarding Canadian history, as well as his speculation of what Chanie might have been feeling. One strong example of this is the colour scheme used in the film and novel. During the majority of the story, blues, blacks, and whites are used to portray a cold, grim, and desolate mood. Bright orange fire is used as a symbol of the “before”, freedom, warmth, and family, while the raven is plain black and symbolizes trauma, death, and the
I have very good sight. One moment they were white, the next red, the next blue. Then I got it. They were a woman’s dresses”. At first, I did not pay attention to the colors of the dresses, but then I realized the pattern of colors in order. In this case, I believe white represents light, goodness, and pureness. The red represents anger, blood and possibly murder. The last but not least, the color blue that represents wisdom, loyalty, and truth. It seemed to me that the author used colors symbolizes the story from the beginning to the end. I believe it is a hint for us to what to expect and what not to since Jeffries was right all along the
The examples of light through the book like the fire, Ralph’s fair hair, and the pale skin of the boys, are symbols of the good and safety. The examples of darkness such as the face paint, the night and the density of the forest’s foliage symbolize shady dealings and frightful encounters. Jack, one of the more savage boys, truly descends into a hateful madness when he smears on mud as face paint. This not only makes him look more gruesome, but it hides his pale skin away from the world. Also, it should be noted that throughout the book there is a common theme of hair color being an example of foreshadowing towards the mindset of each boy. For instance, one of the notoriously good characters, Ralph, has very fair hair whereas Robert, a sadistic and violent boy, has dark hair. Jack is one of the few characters to break this mold because his red hair shows his progression into madness as well as the fire’s steady decline from light imagery into something darker. In the beginning of the book, Jack is tasked with keeping the fire lit. However when the fire goes out around the same time Jack catches his first pig and paints his face, Jack descends into depravity and the fire becomes an ominous symbol. This, along with the hunters want to live deeper in the woods where the sun does not reach shows the darkness as a symbol of malicious intent. However, it is here in the forest where one of the characters discovers the Lord of the Flies and becomes enlightened. It is this sort of contrasting imagery that shows the books love of blurring the lines of the good and the
In the short story “White Angel” by Michael Cunningham, the author creates a theme of light and dark contrast. The story begins with foreshadowing the rest of the story with a light to dark contrast: “It was the sixties - out radios sang out long all day long. This of course is history. It happened before the city of Cleveland went broke, before it’s river caught fire.” (Cunningham 229). This predicts the happiness of the story and how it slowly falls apart. More specifically, it predicts the loving relationship between Frisco and his brother, Carlton and how it ends dramatically and quickly. Not only does this foreshadow the relationship of Carlton and Frisco, but it also symbolizes the up and down relationship of Carlton and his parents.
The cover art of the novel reflects the art featured in each short story. This relaxed realism and use of subjective color leaves the impression of each story containing fantasy, in addition to, realistic concepts. For example, the cover employs the use of black, white, red, and blue to portray the scene. By using neutrals, as the base color, it gives the book a darker and more serious tone. The accents of blue and red are used as emotional signals, red meaning danger and blue meaning courage, as well as contrast to the black and white. Before even opening the book, a reader can get a sense of it and the tone/themes of each short story.
The first way the author uses symbolism to show the overall theme is with color. Numerous times in the novel Janie is wearing a different color ostentatiously depending on what is taking place. Although the message is oblique, most can find meaning behind it. Starting in the first chapter the color Blue is mentioned. “ … Where's dat blue satin dress she left here in?” (pg.2) This is the beginning where Janie is coming back with nothing and the towns women are gossiping about her status and appearance. Even later the author shows that she wears blue because of Tea Cake, “Wait till you see de new blue satin Tea Cake done picked out for me tuh stand up with him in.” (pg. 115) Traditionally the color blue represents 2 depth and stability. It can also symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. From early on Hurston is indicating that Janie will be some of those traits and through out the novel the reader realizes that Janie is actually loyal, stable,wise, and confident after she is introduced to Tea Cake.
Symbolism plays an important role in any novel of literary merit. From objects, to traits, to the way something is portrayed, it can have a whole different meaning. Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays a superior use of symbols such as color, light, and heat. Fitzgerald’s superior use of color as a symbol is the focus of this essay.
The use of diction is powerful, with the gripping use of words and description. Golding creates tension and reinforces his theme and tone with the use of specific words. Many are connotative and therefore create a story abundant in meaning and symbolism. Golding uses colors such as pink to symbolize particular things such as innocence, as shown in the piglets and the island. The word yellow makes the reader think of the sun, enlightenment and Ralph; the words black and red bring to mind evil, blood and Jack.
In conclusion, Fitzgerald uses colours to express the different themes in the novel. The colour grey in the Valley of Ashes symbolizes all of the corruption, while the colour blue represents the reality that is blinded throughout the plot, and green represents all of the jealousy and envy. In the end, the colours have a lot of important significance to the book, just as certain colours may have importance to people.
One example of the effective use of light and dark symbolism occurs when Hester and her daughter are walking in the forest, Pearl exclaims:
The colors in the hat are extremely significant. Its purple velvet flap creates the image of royalty, and the rest of it, green, represents money. This is the only time that green is mentioned in the story, for money is not something that they have, which even the mother cannot dispute. In addition to the hat, the sky of their once “fashionable” neighborhood is the color of “a dying violet,” and the house...
The Peruvian Communist Party (PCP-SL), better known as Sendero Luminoso (‘Shining Path’) was a maoist guerrilla organization in Peru. The parties roots can be drawn to the Andean department of Ayacucho, one of Peru’s pooerest and uneducated areas, where ill even the 1950s landowners continued their serflike manner of treatment toward the natives existence. The escape their dismal lives, Ayacuchans turned toward education, migrating by the thousands in their attempt to escape that existed for them back home.
"The Raven" shaped two important images: a young man with a crow. Sad man just lost the woman he loves, he attempted to immerse yourself in the book in order to forget the pain, but all in vain, the more he read, the more erosion of loneliness and grief; while the symbol of death and ominous crows, but at midnight, flying into this man who often meet with the deceased lover Leinuo hut. In addition, the poet also created two poems on the subject of imagery plays an important role. One is black, "pure tone can make people happy or to generate a sense of depression". Throughout the poem uses a black background; make the reader feel depressed, so men feel the heart of the fear and grief.
Symbolism “acts as webbing between theme and story. Themes alone can sound preachy, and stories alone can sound shallow. Symbolism weaves the two together” (Hall). Symbolism uses the story to convey the theme. Darkness is used in the novel to show the secrecy and lies that the story has. The whole story involves secrecy among two women and a man. Without symbolism the story would just have a very dark house and two very mysterious and disturbed women. Instead there is a feel of secrecy right from the beginning. Symbolism gives the story excitement, while also providing the reader with a good read. The author can read the first few pages and determine the story is not a happy
Crane's use of color allows for layers of meaning within each hue. Green, red and gray are used to describe the everyday physical objects in the text's world, and also the landscapes and metaphysical objects and ideas in Fleming's mind. Green is literally the color of the grass, but figuratively the freshness and youth of the soldiers and the purity of the natural world. Red is, overwhelmingly the color of battle, of courage and gunfire and bloodshed. Gray, however, becomes the color of human defeat. Because Crane uses each so carefully and selectively, creating for each several meanings, they take on a significance of their own; each can stand alone to have its own charged meanings.
IS TAYLOR SWIFT RUINING FOOTBALL? If you are a person who uses social media or watches the news to any extent, you have absolutely heard of the romance between Chiefs player Travis Kelce, and Singer/Songwriter Taylor Swift. Taylor and Travis kicked off their relationship in September 2023, when the NFL season had first started. She first appeared at a Chiefs game on September 24th and ever since then, many fans have been outraged at her attending the games.