Irony in The Lame Shall Enter First "[W]hen thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" counsels the Bible, thus setting the precedent for all well-meaning members of western society concerning their charitable intentions (Matt. 6.3). Humanity's motivation to aid others, regardless of the outcome, is oft times spotted by the subtle struggle between selflessness and selfishness. Flannery O'Connor captures this classic conflict between good and evil in Southern Grotesque fashion through her characters, the protagonist Sheppard and his foil, Rufus Johnson, in [comment2] "The Lame Shall Enter First".[comment3] Challenging the literal paradigm of light and darkness, O'Connor weaves together well crafted characterization, cryptic dialogue, and both biblical and literary allusion in this paradoxical plot and, by way of Sheppard and the antithetical Rufus, blends the black and white of Christian dogma into an ironic grey. The contrast of light and dark begins with the description and characterization of the apparently angelic [comment4] Sheppard, and continues with the introduction of the obscure and ominous Rufus Johnson. O'Connor is not pretentious in her description and development of either character. Sheppard's white hair and "halo" are obvious references to his protagonistic status as the story's do-gooder [comment5] (Norton 371). The narrator continues on by lauding his charitable contribution to the community as a counselor and weekend volunteer for "boys no one else cared about" (372). The reader's only initial clue toward Sheppard's self-righteous mania is his deliberate, guilt-implying sermon towards Norton, his disconcerted and doomed son. It is n... ... middle of paper ... ...pherd", only the agony of total defeat. Sheppard's epiphany comes too late and the stark contrast that once distinguished him from the dark object of his alms turns into the faded realization that he is no better than the beleaguered beneficiary. Through O'Connor's strategic literary devices, deft character contrast, and parody of entrenched Christian values, the reader is left to digest and dissect the fact that maybe the entire flock [comment15] isn't worth one black sheep. Between the black and white islands of moral certainty, good and evil, there lies a sea of ironic grey. Works Cited The King James Version. Great Britain: Cambridge UP, 1996. O'Connor, Flannery. "The Lame Shall Enter First." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1998. 371-414.
With a self-confident tone, he refers to the American natives as “savage, devils” and compares their home to a devil’s home and their tactics to soldiers in Europe, all just to bring attention to the readers. Mary, on the other hand, represents natives as “ravenous beast” showing the typical symptoms from a survivor; anxiety and distress. She uses a prose with the absence of rhetorical ornamentation rejecting literary artifice, sending a clear message though with her own interpretation of things. With a clear binary opposition, good and evil can be found in the same human; she forgets that the Indian may have a reason for the attacks. Edward; however, writes his sermons in a crescendo tone presenting them from a negative point of view provoking a reaction using biblical allusions. Words such as “Hell” and “Torture” are used to awaken the congregation and to provoke a reaction. His sermons are full of imagery, similes, comparisons and metaphors which can be interpreted in different
An element of literature in The Interlopers is situational irony. Irony is the contrast between an actual outcome and what the reader or the characters expect. Irony is important to this story because a major family conflict would have ended, but an event occurred and changed that. Irony is in the interlopers when the wolves came and ate the men. When Georg says, “I will be your friend” it was major irony (Saki 309). The whole story the reader thought that the two men would surely kill each other when they met, but they made up. Also, when Ulrich said “Wolves” there is a turning point fueled by Irony (Saki 310).
By embedding tragedies such as the corruption of J.B’s family, modernizing the true disposition of the Three Comforters, and renewing J.B’s ending along with his own aspect from the biblical story of Job, Archibald MacLeish has answered the question asked by the innocent, “Why do the righteous suffer?” After all, J.B becomes a stronger person than ever, because he overcomes his own obstacles and fear. The innocent has to suffer from the punishments from God in order to gain new experiences and to be more independent. Everyone has to suffer in order to be a better a person.
Wise Blood showcases the flaws of organized religion as seen by the author, Flannery O’Connor, via the story of the anti-religious protagonist and representative of society, Hazel Motes, and his road to redemption. The author makes sharp commentary on the concept of atheism by setting up the idea that christ is a matter of life or death. The novel is used as a proclamation of faith as well as an analysis of american society.. The novel reflects the society, both religious and nonreligious, of the time that it is set in; this reflection allows O’Connor to emphasize both her own and her faith’s opinions of the world that surrounded her post World War II.
The detailed descriptions of the dead man’s body show the terrible costs of the war in a physical aspect. O’Brien’s guilt almost takes on its own rhythm in the repetition of ideas, phrases, and observations about the man’s body. Some of the ideas here, especially the notion of the victim being a “slim, young, dainty man,” help emphasize O’Brien’s fixation on the effects of his action—that he killed someone who was innocent and not meant to be fighting in the war. At the same time, his focus on these physical characteristics, rather than on his own feelings, betrays his attempt to keep some distance in order to dull the pain. The long, unending sentences force the reader to read the deta...
Hawthorne uses irony to highlight how a great act can criticize a man to a bad life and paranoia. We can suppose that Goodman Brown's denial to knowledge the Devil's invitation to is a moral act. He resists the Devil even though Adam and Eve fell for it. The biggest irony in Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" is that Young Goodman Brown, named after a grandfather who was "an old friend" of the devil and does not benefit Brown.
Capital Punishment is referred to as the death penalty, is judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or as a capital crime. Some jurisdictions that practice capital punishment restrict its use to small number of criminal offenses principally treason and murder. Prisoners who have been sentenced to death are usually kept segregated from other prisoners in special parts of the prison pending their execution. I believe capital punishment has ethical problems and is wrong because it decreases the value and dignity of human life. The eighth amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty is a form of cruel and unusual punishment no matter what the crime an individual commits. Murder is wrong whether it is a person killing another person or a state’s decision, murder is murder, and it is all the same. Two wrongs don’t make a right. It also sends a wrong and unmoral message to the people in the community who’s trying to obey the law. The Government says death is wrong when a person kills another but murder is right when done by the government by using the death penalty. They too are committing murder.
The theory of emotional intelligence is relatively new, however the psychological theory has become prevalent and many entities have adapted the principles of this theory in order to enhance relations within the professional environment as well as increase performance which ultimately lead to a positive place of work. (Allan Chapman 2014)
Irony in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is full of irony. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, the protagonists in the play, get themselves into a complicated situation called Bunburyism (as Algernon refers to it). They pretend to be someone that they are not to escape their daily lives. They lie to the women they admire, and eventually the truth is revealed.
Literary elements such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, the use of personification, and the use of irony are primary tools and building blocks for great literature. With the incorporation of literary elements, an insignificant story of occurrences can be transformed into a literary work of art presenting depth and purpose to its audience. While many short stories are flooded with a number of various literary elements, Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat", William Sydney Porter's "The Last Leaf", Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace", and Nathaniel Hawthorn's "The Birthmark" are prime examples of short stories that are built around the distinct element of irony. Irony is emphasized throughout these four short stories to draw the reader into the story, express an underlying moral warning, and establish depth that in turn prompts discussion.
The first thing to register when considering irony in Socrates, is that in no passage of Plato 's work does Socrates or any of his associates refer to him as an ironist. Rather, it was his opponents who accused him to be an eiron, that is, someone who practices irony . This, has to do with the fact that up until Socrates ' times, the standard understanding of the Greek word eironeia was exclusively that of deception or dissembling . More precisely, as David Wolfsdorf shows discussing a passage from Oppian 's On Hunting, erioneia '[...] is the use of deception to profit at the expense of another by presenting oneself as benign in an effort to disarm the intended victim [...] ' .
inner conflict as well. He realizes how horrible and atrocious his sins are but is unable to feel remorse. While he seems to be an intelligent and virtuous man, he cannot seem to control his violent fits of drunken rage. He also deals with conflict on a more spiritual level. The cat that he has killed is haunting him. He tries to shrug it off as coincidence, but every time he comes up with an explanation for an unsettling even...
Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France, went quietly and bravely to her death. A tragic end to a fateful journey begun so promisingly almost a quarter of a century before -- with her bridal train from Vienna to Versailles in 1770.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability an individual has to control and evaluate emotions, not only their own emotions, but those that they interact with both professionally and personally. In his article, (Yamin, 2012) asked the questions (1) Do you have problems relating to people whenever you share a social encounter? (2) Is the school in your district failing to meet state or national standards? He further went on to mention that, there is no shortage of coaches and consultants who will remedy your unfortunate deficiency, on very reasonable terms. Training EI at work or school may indeed offer a solution to many of society’s problems, but interventions must be soundly based in psychological theory and careful definition and analysis of emotional competencies.
Capital Punishment is awful and inhumane. The Death Penalty is not only unconstitutional, but it is taking away a human life. It is not right to punish criminals by doing to them exactly what they did to their victim. “The penalty for rape cannot be rape. Those who steal are not punished by being stolen from. We should not, therefore, punish the murderer with death... Capital Punishment is a barbaric remainder of an uncivilized society." (Should the Death Penalty n. pag.) A society that respects life should not also be the one who is taking it. You can not kill a murderer to prove that killing is wrong; that is hypocrisy at its best. One can not believe two things at once; a person either believes killing is wrong or they don’t; there is no in between. It is horrible to be the one to decide whether a person lives or dies, so why do it? Not only is the Death Penalty wrong, but in the situation of...