INTRODUCTION
Stephen King’s Number One Best-Seller, Insomnia, is a book about an elderly man named Ralph
Roberts who begins to suffer from early waking. This form of insomnia grows into a terrible problem for
Ralph as he begins to awaken earlier and earlier each morning. People begin to comment about his health
and sickly appearance. Many take it upon themselves to recommend old-fashioned home remedies that
aren’t supposed to fail. Ralph attempted everything from staying up all night (much to his dismay, he found
himself growing more and more awake as the early morning hours passed) to sucking on honeycomb. None
of the-tried-and true remedies work and by the time Ralph is getting only about an hour of sleep each night,
Ralph begins to see auras around people. Naturally, Ralph begins to think that he is becoming senile
because of his old age of 70, even one of his best friends tells him that he has lost it. When Ralph meets two
little men from another realm of consciousness and they reveal that they caused him to lose sleep. They
explained to him that losing sleep enable him to see the auras that he had begun to see, he is quite relieved
to find that he isn‘t insane. This story progresses to its climax in which Ralph must take on a man who is
unknowingly helping the king of the dark side, known as the Random in this thriller, kill two thousand
people. There is a little boy amongst these people who will save two men in the future, these men are
destined to help the light side, known as the Purpose. During the fight, Ralph takes on the king of the
Random himself and wins. This saves the little boy and according to the two little men, the universe is
balanced once again. As promised by the two little otherworldly men, life returns to normal for Ralph and
he can once again sleep.
What happened to Ralph in this work is a very imaginative look at what happens to a person
suffering from insomnia. In scientific reports, there isn’t evidence of the patient seeing auras, being capable
of rising to other levels of consciousness at will, or even entering levels which make them invisible to the
human eye, as Ralph did in the book. Sufferers of insomnia in the real world will experience difficulties
such as: da...
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...oncentration; stress, anxiety, irritability, sleepiness.
This loss of sleep comes in many different flavours such as difficulty falling asleep, not having a
problem falling asleep but a problem staying asleep (many awakenings), and waking up too early. This can
lead to many problems in a person’s life.
Of the three forms of insomnia, chronic insomnia is the most serious and can last for a month or
longer. This form is usually more complex and may be caused by a number of factors, including underlying
physical or mental disorders. One of the most common causes of chronic insomnia is depression. Physical
causes include arthritis and sleep apnea. Other causes are related to behaviors such as the misuse of
caffeine.
Insomnia can be cured with proper treatments. Popular treatments for this difficulty sleeping
include relaxation therapy and reconditioning.
Though insomnia may be glamorized by some authors, this problem is nothing to fantasize about,
it is a serious problem if it is chronic and should be attended to if it lasts as long as a month.
He has the regular recognition that such a large number of youthful Americans have; the possibility that as a result of the nation they live in, their identity, and where they originate from, there are openings that are legitimately theirs and little can turn out badly in getting what they need for their future. For Ralph and numerous youthful Americans, this dream rapidly demonstrates false as they grow up and encounter life. In the novel, Ralph's impression of New York City and America changes practically as fast as it was initially shaped. He is quickly stood up to with a dialect hindrance, abandoning him lost and separated from his new world. Before sufficiently long, Ralph "was starting to realize what was
Ralph's actions as a character in the novel assist in reinforcing Golding's point that the prevalent force within man is evil. While Ralph struggles, albeit unsuccessfully, to maintain a civilized society on the island, he repeatedly tries to resist the temptation of evil inside him. As the island descends into chaos under Jack's tyrannical regime, the rest of the boys on the island let their hair become longer, at the same time becoming increasingly vicious. Ralph tries to ignore the temptation of having long hair, trying to push it back to maintain the good he has inside him. Ralph wants to “have a pair of scissors” to cut his hair, but the hair is coaxing him to let evil dominate (109). ...
Ralph has an idealistic view of the world and he always strives for righteousness and perfection in himself and in others. I think that because he expects perfection in this world, he is disappointed with the imperfections in himself and in others as well as the unfairness in the world. Facing difficult situations, one after another in his life, has affected him deeply because of his idealistic view of the world.
Ralph is the character who always tried the orderly approach. Throughout the film, he tried to care for the others and be the leader that the younger children needed.
Ralph, in some ways, parallels a school teacher. He always tries to do what is in the best interest of the community, but sometimes is over powered by the majority and gives in. In over words, he does his best to keep order and peace, but of course can’t all the time because of disagreements, stubbornness and rebellion.
Ralph is starting to acknowledge the way of the island. He is also changing his lifestyle because of the condition
A flicker of light caught Ralph’s eye, but he ignored it. Somewhere deep in his mind, though, he sensed something familiar. A feeling of fear enveloped him and sent chills down his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut, and began rubbing the sides of his he...
I'll go. Don't argue’”(pg.115). At this point, Ralph is agreeing to go look for the beast. The chief in him feels the need to take action and responsibility and find the beast that is scaring the littluns. Instead of getting caught up hunting and going crazy with bloodlust, he puts forth the idea of starting a fire and then someone watch it to make sure it doesn't go out. When someone has to go look for the "beast," Ralph appoints himself. When he's scared, he "[binds] himself together with his will" (pg.246), meaning that he's able to force himself to do something he would rather not for the good of the group. Although Ralph seems like the level headed and practical leader, as the story progresses, he starts to lose the civil behavior and discipline he once
This is the turning point for Ralph, not only as a person, but as a character in the book. Ralph goes from a somewhat flat character, to a round character, and with this transformation, he completes his dream, a dream which he had with him the whole time. Not only has he come to peace with himself and his accomplishments, he has come to peace with those around him, “Ralph watched the water fight with sadness in his heart, never guessing the scene would one day hearten him, as it did now.” (p296). Some may say that Ralph never achieved his dream. I say that he achieved his dream about half way through the book, he just didn’t realize all he had, and all he could lose until it was almost gone.
Ralph’s power at the beginning is secure but as the group succumbs to their savage instincts, Ralph’s influence declines as Jack’s rises. This is due mainly to the cruelty and violence that goes on in the story. This cruelty reveals that Ralph’s commitment to civilization and being rescued is so strong that he will not allow himself to change his morals and become cruel like the others. The cruelty in this novel also shows that Ralph is a very intelligent character. His intelligence can be proven because there was a point in the novel when he hunts a boar for the first time and he experiences the thrill of bloodlust. He also attends one of Jack’s feast where he is swept away by the frenzy and participates in the killing of Simon. This is a very tragic moment for Ralph because this is when he realizes the evil that lives within himself and every human being. It is the cruel acts that happen in this novel that reveals Ralph’s character of being intelligent and being able to think deeply about human experiences. He even weeps when getting saved because of his knowledge about the human capacity for
first things that Ralph, the central character of the novel, does upon his arrival on the
Sleep disorders are a very serious problem for a lot of people. It affects a lot of people 's lives, requiring them to have to live a very different life than the average person. The five most commonly known sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea, sleepwalking, and narcolepsy. Sleep insomnia is when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep even when you have a chance to do so. Sleep apnea is when you have trouble breathing when you’re asleep. Sleepwalking is when you’re in a deep sleep and you start to walk around or perform some kind of complex behavior. People that are affected by these disorders have a very hard time either getting to sleep or staying asleep. I will be explaining what all of these disorders are and how they affect
“The loss of innocence for which Ralph weeps at the novel's close is not, however, a matter of transformation from childish goodness to adolescent depravity, is not a growing into wickedness. It is rather the coming of an awareness of darkness, of the evil in man's heart that was present in the children all along,” (Boyd). At the end of the novel, Ralph cries for a few reasons. He cries because he has lost his friend Piggy. He also cries because he has lost his innocence. He now realizes that there is evil in every man.
Sleep is essential in our lives. While we are sleeping our bodies heal and rejuvenate and prepare for the next day. However, even though sleep is so vital, 40% of Americans struggle in some way or another with a sleeping disorder. Insomnia is a sleeping disorder in which a person cannot fall asleep or cannot sleep for long periods of time, making it impossible to get a full night’s rest. Insomnia can be generic, chronic, or be caused occasionally by stress. Mental, physical and emotional stresses all contribute to a person’s susceptibility of insomnia.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, there are five different types of insomnia: Acute, Chronic, Comorbid, Onset, and Maintenance insomnia. Acute Insomnia is a brief period of time where it is difficult to sleep is usually caused by an event in the individual's personal life and can be resolved without having to receive treatment. Chronic Insomnia is a period where the person has difficulty staying asleep or falling asleep and it has to happen at least three times a week for about three months or longer. Comorbid Insomnia is only when insomnia happens with a different medical condition. Onset Insomnia is when an individual is having trouble falling asleep at the beginning of the night. Finally, Maintenance Insomnia is when an individual has a hard time staying asleep during the night, they wake up in the middle of the night and can not fall back asleep.(What are Different Types of Insomnia?)