co-passengers in the train where she finally befriends Dimitri. But the known companions of Koula (her family and colleagues), no less than the unknown co-passengers in her train, are unable to alleviate her sense of loneliness. Here, languageing is joyless; her narratable self is ignored by the others. And hence, they cannot become her necessary others. They speak to her, communicate with her, yet fall short of being her “friends”. In Dimitri, she finds one who can narrate her selfhood and force her to narrate his. Thus, it is only through this love affair that she can enter the circularity of the narratable self and the necessary other, the two mutually fertilizing entities collaboratively languageing towards the goal of meaningful existence. …show more content…
However, as I have already said, Koula’s verbalizable universe, her love as a narrative2, can never exhaust the (erotic as well as non-erotic) narratability of her Self. And so, she must always remain lonely: before and after the love affair. But is this really so? Let’s probe more deeply into the narrative of Koula to find the answer. When Dimitri’s status as the necessary other for Koula becomes problematic in her eyes, she turns to the other Others, and moves across the network of necessary others to find solace in some other stable narrative of meaningful living. The barrenness of the narrative of her love for Dimitri, when it becomes conspicuous, makes her turn to her erstwhile neglected lived world – her family, her office work, and even the anonymous co-passengers (Koumandareas 67, 77, 87). And, yes, religion. A sudden going out of the lights in the train intensifies this widening of her consciousness towards all the others she considered unnecessary so far, but, one may insist that this is propelled as much by the blinding sun of self-realization kindled by Dimitri’s inadequacy as a necessary other as by the accidental darkness in the …show more content…
She helped the woman regain her footing and heard herself automatically uttering words of encouragement. The passengers in the carriage – mutual strangers, ordinary people going home after a day’s work – now chattered away as if they had known each other for years, as if they believed they could work out this problem together, face a common danger which they could only vaguely apprehend. . . . they huddled close and pressed against each other,. . . Koula wondered at this strange crowd in which she now found herself so intimately absorbed. It was as if she saw her own image multiplied a thousandfold – an image of humanity enlisting all its resources in an effort to bear up and behave rationally. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Previously, the narrator has intimated, “She had all her life long been accustomed to harbor thoughts and emotions which never voiced themselves. They had never taken the form of struggles. They belonged to her and were her own.” Her thoughts and emotions engulf her, but she does not “struggle” with them. They “belonged to her and were her own.” She does not have to share them with anyone; conversely, she must share her life and her money with her husband and children and with the many social organizations and functions her role demands.
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
Have you ever made any friends via Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat that you have never met before? I know I have through Twitter due to having the same interests. Some may say those friends are not really your friends, but virtual ones instead. In the article, “The Limits of Friendships,” by Maria Konnikova, she talks about friendships that are made virtually and in reality. The author argues that the use of social media has hindered friendships and face to face connections within one’s social circle, however, she does not address that they have met their closest support group through social media. Face to face connections help identify who one’s true friends are and they are more realistically made when it is in person rather than over social media, but there Konnikova fails to address the fact that social media has allowed many to connect
In Aphra Behn’s Oroonko, and Voltaire’s Candide, love is a subject of prominence; it serves as a starting point for both of these characters. For example, if Candide hadn’t fallen in love with his insatiable beauty, Cunegonde, he would not have been thrown from his home, castle Thunder-Ten-Tronckh, and sent on his dreadful journey across Europe. “The Baron of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh passed by the screen and, talking note of this cause and this effect, drove Candide out of the castle by kicking him vigorously in the backside (Voltaire 356). Throughout the entire story, Voltaire discusses Candide’s impalpable feelings for Cunegonde; he even commits twice to be with his fair maiden. Throughout the entire story, Candid, discusses his impalpable feelings for Cunegonde; he even commits twice to be with his fair maiden. “It was a quick, clear chain of reasoning; without giving the inquisitor time to recover from surprise, he ran him through and laid him beside the Jew” (Voltaire 367). Candid will even leave the “best of all worlds”, Eldorado, to retrieve Cunegonde, from the Governor of Buenos Aires, whom Cunegonde willing accepted a proposal from, thinking only about her own wellbeing. “We have enough to pay off the governor of Buenos Aires-if indeed; a price is placed on Miss Cunegonde” (Voltaire 385). Likewise, Oroonko’s’ love for his beautiful, Imoinda marks the starting point of his unfortunate journey. For example, Oroonko’s lover Imoinda is sent a veil, from his grandfather, the king; the veil signified that Imoinda was now his wife, therefor, she and Oroonoko, were no longer able to pursue marriage. “He sent the royal veil to Imoinda; that is the Ceremony of Invitation: he sends the lady, he has mind to honour with his bed, a vei...
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
Throughout the short story, “The Lady with the Lapdog”, Chekhov’s strays away from the classical love story expectations by realistically portraying Anna's and Gurov's relationship. Chekhov follows the structure for a romantic tale to a bare minimum, but, ultimately, diverts from the commonly known aspects of a love story, as described by author Leigh Michaels’ “The Essential Elements of Writing a Romance Novel”. Chekok’s alteration from a classical love story thwarts the reader’s expectations by demonstrating realism and uncertainty found in human nature. Chekhov’s technique of applying a realistic lens on this couple raises more questions than answers, leaving much ambiguity for the reader’s own interpretation. By exploring the nuances in human nature, Chekhov illustrates a forbidden love that juxtaposes the universal rubric for what a love story should contain.
Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
Desperately, people turn to use some words loosely. Take note when you are talking with people and you hear them using reminiscent words such as smart, pretty, beautiful, intelligent, or love in sentences. For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the word Love due to the fact that love turns to apply in all the other words that people use loosely. There are numerous definitions of the word love, but I will pick one from Dictionary.com that states: A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. It’s obvious that a large majority of people are content when they hear the phrase “I Love You”. On the other hand, when a person says I love you, it can be misinterpreted effortlessly. One question I
When trying to understand these particular characters’ experiences, it is very important to consider their worldviews, which promote “[th...
The short stories “Souls Belated” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” have in common ‘Marriage’ as main theme. However, the marriage is treated quite differently in both short stories. In "Souls Belated", Lydia chooses to take control of her destiny, to deviate from conventions and to choose what is good for her. She is the strongest character of the couple. Whereas, in "The Yellow Wallpaper", the name of the main character who is also the narrator of the story is not known. She is identified as being John’s wife. This woman, contrary to Lydia in "Souls Belated" is completely locked up in her marriage. This essay will first describe and compare the characters of Lydia and John's wife in the context of marriage, and then it will look at how marriage is described, treated and experienced by couples in these two short stories.
This story, “The Darling” presents how a woman, named Olenka, the main character, who is also, in this story, known as the darling, has a reliance on others, and for the most lives an empty life. Olenka does not posses any personality of her own; therefore, she only finds happiness in reflecting the belief of her husbands/lovers. Olenka has the need to be fond of someone, and she frequently, fills her empty life through others, but only after having time of lacking wholeness in her self.
I feel uncomfortable in my own world. Being alone unnerves me. I always have felt the need to share my world, my mind and my feelings with somebody. My feelings about myself seem less important than what others think of me. I'm scared of being lonely. And so are we all. We all seem to be on a continuous search for someone who will really love and understand us. Someone to provide us with a purpose for life. And yet I think we are all essentially alone. We are alone in our thoughts an emotions.
First, we take a look at two of the protagonist, Vladimir and Estragon have a very comical and nonsense relationship, completely opposites, they however compliment one another perfectly and offset the lonesomeness and personality of each one another. Vladimir for example is good at recollecting things and events, constantly he reminds Estragon of events past or of things such as the gospels in the Bible, whereas Estragon keeps forgetting things and sometimes cannot remember...
Neruda would argue with someone who disconnects love from the mind and the physical world. Many have claimed that the two are independent dichotomies, often citing “love at first sight” as a reason to love without thinking. However, Neruda, in poetry, refutes that claim altogether. He asserts that love without understanding is not love at all but rather, an infatuation. Neruda praises knowledge of body, prioritizing knowledge as the foundation of love; the facts of his lover’s body are the evidence of his love through which he declares that one cannot love an unfamiliar person.