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In “The Stationmaster”, Pushkin reworks Karamzin’s short story “Poor Liza” and the Biblical tale of the Prodigal Son to subvert and remark on the predictability and expectations of sentimentalist prose. In beginning his tale, Pushkin immediately creates sympathy for the stationmaster in the style of romantic fiction that glorifies the poor or lower-class. He frames his tale in the context of the Prodigal Son and “Poor Liza”, both of which feature a down-trodden parent doing their best for their child. The pictures on the wall of the stationmaster’s house set an expectation of a pious, goodly, elderly parent, sinful, brash youth, and resulting repentance. Yet, it is clear that Dunya is not being treated like a child under loving care, but has …show more content…
Pushkin plays on the reader’s assumption of the Prodigal Son’s and Poor Liza’s ideal, loving parents with Dunya’s, making a statement about how the romantic perfections of those parents are in reality, far from perfect. When the postmaster takes over the tale, his drunken sentimentalism further manipulates our expectations, and his tragic tone leads us to expect tragedy. In combination with the expectations of “Poor Liza” and the Prodigal son, the audience assumes this tale will be one in which the young, innocent heroine is tempted by the world and wronged by men, and anticipates repentance by a disillusioned Dunya at the end. The irony of the story is how the actual plot is contrary to these expectations, held to some degree through the last sentence, of the reader. Confronted with the a lonely life of the passing and shallow affections of traveling strangers and her father’s oppression, Liza decides to run away with a handsome and charming young man who shows great affection for her and has probably promised her
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
A person’s life is often a journey of study and learning from errors and mistakes made in the past. In both James Joyce’s Araby and John Updike’s A&P, the main characters, subjected to the events of their respective stories, are forced to reflect upon their actions which failed to accomplish their original goal in impressing another character. Evidently, there is a similar thematic element that emerges from incidents in both short stories, which show maturity as an arduous process of learning from failures and a loss of innocence. By analyzing the consequences of the interaction of each main character; the Narrator in Araby and Sammy in A&P; and their persons of infatuation, Mangan’s sister
The short story, “Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, explicates the life of a man named Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka. We see him briefly in his young years, followed by his life in the army, and his return to the farm where his strong characterized aunt resides. We can see immediately that this man lives in constant cleanliness and dutiful paranoia; these are some of his desires that he wishes to exhibit to others. We can also see his fears, which reside in the confiscation of his masculinity and independence. This short story has many elements that resemble others in the Nikolai Gogol collection.
When Janie was a young girl, she allowed her grandmother’s opinions and beliefs on happiness dictate how she lived her life, which ultimately led to her misery. When Janie was caught kissing Johnny Taylor under the pear tree at the age of sixteen, Nanny told Janie how she wanted her to live her life: “Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry. But dat ain’t yo’ idea, Ah see” (Hurston 13). Since she was young, Janie had been mesmerized with the pear tree, the emblem of natural harmony and contentment. She had come to the realization that her dream was to wrestle with life, and just as she was experiencing this freedom, Nanny, the only family she was in contact with, challenged her plans. Nanny took her own experiences as a malnourished slave and condemned Janie to the life in which she was never able to have; Nanny wanted her granddaughter to marry a man with money so that he could support her; she believed that whatever Janie’s assertion of happiness was, was wrong and pointless. When Nanny told Janie that she wanted her to marry a rich man, she spoke with a superior tone that revealed her belittlement towards Janie. She claimed that Janie didn’t know what was best for herself,...
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
...ve interest was free born and wished to marry her. However, after Harriet?s attempts to pursued her master to sell her to the young neighbor failed she was left worse off than before. Dr. Norcom was so cruel he forbade Harriet anymore contact with the young man. Harriet?s next love came when she gave birth to her first child. Her son Benny was conceived as a way to get around Dr. Norcom?s reign of terror. However, this is a subject that was very painful for her. She conveys to the reader that she has great regret for the length she went to stop her Master. Along with her own guilt she carries the memories of her Grandmother?s reaction to the news of her pregnancy. Clearly this was a very traumatic time in Harriet?s life. In light of these difficult events Harriet once again found love and hope in her new born son. ?When I was most sorely oppressed I found solace in his smiles. I loved to watch his infant slumber: but always there was a dark cloud over my enjoyment. I could never forget that he was a slave.? (Jacobs p. 62)
Janie who continually finds her being defined by other people rather than by herself never feels loved, either by her parents or by anybody else. Her mother abandoned her shortly after giving birth to her. All she had was her grandmother, Nanny, who protected and looked after her when she was a child. But that was it. She was even unaware that she is black until, at age six, she saw a photograph of herself. Her Nanny who was enslaved most of her lifetime only told her that a woman can only be happy when she marries someone who can provide wealth, property, and security to his wife. Nanny knew nothing about love since she never experienced it. She regarded that matter as unnecessary for her as well as for Janie. And for that reason, when Janie was about to enter her womanhood in searching for that love, Nanny forced her to marry Mr. Logan Killicks, a much older man that can offer Janie the protection and security, plus a sixty-acre potato farm. Although Janie in her heart never approves what her Nanny forced her to do, she did it anyway. She convinced herself that by the time she became Mrs. Killick, she would get that love, which turned out to be wrong.
In the short stories, Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, and The Bet by Anton Chekhov, both Lizabeth and the Lawyer, along with their understanding of life, are similar, as well as very different. While both Lizabeth and the Lawyer develop a deeper understanding and knowledge of their situations by the end of each story, the processes that lead them to these realizations are very different, as race, gender, and social class all play a role in how the two characters develop.
At the outset, Atwood gives the reader an exceedingly basic outline of a story with characters John and Mary in plotline A. As we move along to the subsequent plots she adds more detail and depth to the characters and their stories, although she refers back with “If you want a happy ending, try A” (p.327), while alluding that other endings may not be as happy, although possibly not as dull and foreseeable as they were in plot A. Each successive plot is a new telling of the same basic story line; labeled alphabetically A-F; the different plots describe how the character’s lives are lived with all stories ending as they did in A. The stories tell of love gained or of love lost; love given but not reciprocated. The characters experience heartache, suicide, sadness, humiliation, crimes of passion, even happiness; ultimately all ending in death regardless of “the stretch in between”. (p.329)
In many literary works, family relationships are the key to the plot. Through a family’s interaction with one another, the reader is able decipher the conflicts of the story. Within a literary family, various characters play different roles in each other’s lives. These are usually people that are emotionally and physically connected in one way or another. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or in this case, father and son. In the Arthur Miller’s novel, Death of A Salesman, the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allows Miller to comment on father-son relationships and the conflicts that arise from them.
The boy is haplessly subject to the city’s dark, despondent conformity, and his tragic thirst for the unusual in the face of a monotonous, disagreeable reality, forms the heart of the story. The narrator’s ultimate disappointment occurs as a result of his awakening to the world around him and his eventual recognition and awareness of his own existence within that miserable setting. The gaudy superficiality of the bazaar, which in the boy’s mind had been an “oriental enchantment,” shreds away his protective blindness and leaves him alone with the realization that life and love contrast sharply from his dream (Joyce). Just as the bazaar is dark and empty, flourishing through the same profit motivation of the market place, love is represented as an empty, fleeting illusion. Similarly, the nameless narrator can no longer view his world passively, incapable of continually ignoring the hypocrisy and pretension of his neighborhood. No longer can the boy overlook the surrounding prejudice, dramatized by his aunt’s hopes that Araby, the bazaar he visited, is not “some Freemason affair,” and by the satirical and ironic gossiping of Mrs. Mercer while collecting stamps for “some pious purpose” (Joyce). The house, in the same fashion as the aunt, the uncle, and the entire neighborhood, reflects people
It is evident that, due to the lack of money in a family, suffering is a constant battle that can not be avoided because there is no alternative choice. They are obligated to go through the pain in order to survive. Not only does Dunya endure a harsh and shameful environment, but she is willing to sacrifice her own love life for the sake of her brother. She is willing to marry a man with no morals and despicable attitude, “ and despite Pyotr Petrovich’s present, quite understandable evasiveness (since he does not know you yet), Dunya is firmly convinced that she will achieve everything by her good influence on her future husband, and she is convinced of it. Of course, we took care not to let Pyotr Petrovitch in on these further dreams of our, above all that you will become his partner (Dostoevsky 37).
Parent and child relationships are the main point of play in many literary works. Through their relationship, the reader can understand the conflicts of the play, since the characters play different roles in each other’s lives. These people are usually connected in physical and emotional ways. They can be brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, or fathers and sons. In “Death of A Salesman,” by Arthur Miller, the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Biff and Happy, allows Miller to comment on the father-son relationship and conflicts that arise from them.
When we first meet young Pecola she has been relocated by the state after her father, Cholly, burns down their family’s house and the family is outdoors; “that old dog Breedlove had burned up his house, gone upside his wife’s head, and everybody, as a result was outdoors” (16-17). Pecola adores Shirley Temple, loves playing with dolls, and desperately wants to have blue eyes so she isn’t “ugly”. While these desires illustrate that Pecola mentally and emotionally remains a child, her menstruation, in the first chapter of the book, shows that she is experiencing a physical coming-of-age. However Pecola doesn’t understand what is happening and is ultimately concerned with the all too real adult horror of “getting someone to love you” and th...
One of Philip’s greatest tactics in this piece, to convey her intense grief and desolation, is her use of promising phrases about her son’s future, and her sheer joy about what it holds for him. In doing this she is able to build an emotional connection between herself and the reader, “Seaven years Childless Marriage past/ A Son, A Son is born at last…”(5,6), “As a long life promised,” (9), and “Full of good Spirits, Meen, and Aier,” (8). The emotional feelings that are withdrawn from these phrases all resonate with the reader, and allow us to become much more sensitive to not only her and what she is going through, but also her son and his lack of life. The repetition of “Son” is very effective in showing how elated she was, and actually makes the depressing realization that follows even darker and more troublesome.