The balance and natural order of the world is held in place by the powerful forces of love and evil. Many think evil is the most powerful, but others, believe the opposite. In Joelle Charbonneau’s novel, The Testing, the balance is shifted when Cia Vale and Tomas Endress’ love, overpowers all evil thrown at them by an inhumane government. The Testing is a series of brutal physical and mental challenges. These evil tests are not done for power nor riches, but for a mere chance at a university education. Through Charbonneau’s development of conflict, establishment of character and creation of varying atmospheres, the theme that love overpowers all evil, is exemplified.
To begin, the internal and external conflict developed in the novel, epitomizes the hardships faced by the characters. These conflicts are conquered through love. First, Cia’s constant battle against the government would push any relationship past destruction; however, every attempt to break them, only makes them stronger. At the start, Tomas is severely injured by a booby trap placed by the Testing committee. Tomas is the only candidate injured since this so called trap is in place to separate Cia and Tomas: a power duo. Rather than considering to abandon Tomas, Cia reflects, “[S]oon, Tomas won’t be able to travel. He won’t finish the test and neither will I since I could never leave knowing [Tomas] would most likely die out here injured and alone” (Charbonneau 72). Despite the government’s powerful effort to separate Cia and Tomas, Cia refuses to cooperate. Her reserve of love overpowers the government’s evil intentions. Next, the conflict that arises with a competitor, Will, is conquered by love. In the final metres to the finish, Tomas is shot at point-blank by...
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...il. Hence, the creation of atmosphere, develops the theme of love overcoming all evil.
In closing, the development of intense conflict, distinction of Cia’s character, and creation of varying atmospheres, all aid in the development that in the end, love always conquers evil. If Cia and Tomas faced their conflicts without love, Tomas would be dead. If Cia were not developed to be a smart, dynamic teenager, her actions would be passed off as stupid obsessions, rather than true love. Lastly, if the atmosphere had not been established, the meaning of love would have been lost. If love can prosper in a society where university admissions are based on the lives you take, why is the world full of so much hatred and violence? The power of genuine love should never be undermined by evil. The answer to problems should never revolve around evil, but true love and compassion.
It is my intention to compare the book, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos, to its modern movie version, Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. I intend to examine how the original French text was modified in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes. I also plan to discuss how these transformations change the meaning of the story and reflect different cultural/historical contexts. There are some major differences between these two works, if only because of when they were written.
Love and hope, together are a timeless literary thematic duo, which continue to inspire countless variations and sub-genres of romance literature. For the last many centuries, romance as a genre, is arguably the most popular of all narratives. However, the theme of love often takes presentences and overarches other thematic interpretation of stories. So why then are people seeking romance in the literature they ready? Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games with the intent to introduce her young adult readership to a number of politically charged themes. Although Collins's work is acknowledged for successfully presenting themes of sacrifice, versions of reality, and power, her audience conversely identifies with the debatable sub-them of love. Social forums, such as the Official Hunger Games Facebook Website exposes an insider's perspective of sort, which reveals public perceptions and interpretations of Collins's work. Even though the purpose for the fan-website built around The Hunger games is to provide a discussion space. Participant's discussions however, unintentionally reveal a...
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In every story, there is a protagonist and an antagonist, good and evil, love and hatred, one the antithesis of the other. To preserve children’s innocence, literature usually emphasizes on the notion that love is insurmountable and that it is the most beautiful and powerful force the world knows of, yet Gen’s and Carmen’s love, ever glorious, never prevails. They each have dreams of a future together, “he takes Carmen’s hand and leads her out the gate at the end of the front walkway… together they… simply walk out into the capital city of the host country. Nobody knows to stop them. They are not famous and nobody cares. They go to an airport and find a flight back to Japan and they live there, together, happily and forever” in which their love is the only matter that holds significance (261). The china
The conflict between good and evil is one of the most common conventional themes in literature. Coping with evil is a fundamental struggle with which all human beings must contend. Sometimes evil comes from within a character, and sometimes other characters are the source of evil; but evil is always something that the characters struggle to overcome. In two Russian novels, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, men and women cope with their problems differently. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment and the Master in The Master and Margarita can not cope and fall apart, whereas Sonya in Crime and Punishment and Margarita in The Master and Margarita, not only cope but pull the men out of their suffering.
Love is a wonderful curse that forces us to do unexplainable things. Romeo and Juliet is a famous play written by William Shakespeare, who does an exceptional job in showing the readers what hate, mercy, death, courage, and most importantly what love looks like. This play is about two star-crossed lovers who are both willing to sacrifice their lives just to be with one another. Unfortunately tragedy falls upon the unconditional love Romeo and Juliet have for each other, but along the way they experience immeasurable forgiveness and extraordinary braveness just to be with one another. Sadly enough, love is a cause of violence in the end. Even though the pair spends less time together, it is enough for them to fall in love. It is clearly true
Love is a common theme in literature, and even though 1984’s main themes include the dangers of totalitarianism and psychological manipulation, love is still a prominent theme in the novel. The love that is displayed in 1984 between the characters Winston and Julia does not lead to an ending similar to that of a fairy tale, like many other classics do. Their love begins and ends in destruction, betrayal and hate. Winston and Julia are brought together by their combined hate for the Party, which is the totalitarian government controlling their society. However, their dislike must be kept secret or they will be taken by the Party’s Thought Police to the Ministry of Love, where they assume that their lives would be ended. Although Winston and Julia share this immense hatred for the Party itself, that seems to be the only common interest between them both. J...
Love is powerful and could change a person’s personality. In “The Book of Unknown Americans”, the author Christina Hernriquez tells us the definition of love. It is a book combined with different stories but each story is connected to others. It talks about the immigrants that moved to America with lots of hope, but didn’t end up with a happy ending. The story is about love, hope and guilt and different kinds of emotional feeling. In the book, Mayor has an internal change because of Maribel, and the power of love. He wants to be a strong man who can protect Maribel. He used to be someone who couldn’t defend himself and he changed because of Maribel.
The Lais of Marie de France is a compilation of short stories that delineate situations where love is just. Love is presented as a complex emotion and is portrayed as positive, while at other times, it is portrayed as negative. The author varies on whether or not love is favorable as is expressed by the outcomes of the characters in the story, such as lovers dying or being banished from the city. To demonstrate, the author weaves stories that exhibit binaries of love. Two distinct types of love are described: selfish and selfless. Love is selfish when a person leaves their current partner for another due to covetous reasons. Contrarily, selfless love occurs when a lover leaves to be in a superior relationship. The stark contrast between the types of love can be analyzed to derive a universal truth about love.
Love caused his logic and sensibility to fail him, and provoked him to commit monstrous acts that destroyed many lives. Through analysis of “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, it can be concluded that one of her many intended lessons was to show the value and the powerful effects of love. Atwood successfully proved this lesson by using powerful examples of both successful and disastrous relationships to illustrate the positive and negative effects of love. Atwood truly demonstrated what it is like to follow your heart.
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I believe fear, superstition, and greed fuel many evil things today whether big or small. Power hungry humans fight all throughout history and is usually for these reasons. Personally, the book taught me about how people deal with situations when they are under pressure, one’s need...
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