In Saki’s short story, “The Interlopers”, the author reveals the positive side of a brutal feud using the internal struggle of the protagonist, Ulrich. When the two adversaries are both pinned under the tree branch, Ulrich tries to offer his wine bottle to his enemy. As Ulrich lies silently, the narrator explains how Ulrich has “an idea forming in his head” (2). Though he is brought up in an atmosphere filled with hatred, Ulrich is also under the restraints of civilization and morality, which give him the courage to challenge the long-existing conflict between the two families. The struggle between Ulrich and his inner self reveals the civilized and honorable side of his character, while displaying his capability to accept novel ideas. Near
the end of the story, Ulrich makes up his mind to “bury the old quarrel” (2) and ask his opponent to be his friend. Offering what has not been offered almost since the beginning of the two families’ history, Ulrich is expressing great wisdom and boldness. While not wanting to give up the almost inveterate tradition, he realizes the need for the two families to conciliate for the benefits of both, demonstrating his clear-mindedness and benevolence. Altogether, Saki successfully uses one man’s combat with himself to present the knowledgeable nature of the man.
In the passage, Martin, the author, Nick C. Vaca, writes about the time him and his friends had a confrontation with the new neighborhood boy, Martin. Through describing what happened before, during, and after the engagement he provides insight on what he learned from this experience. This experience left Vaca with a long-lasting impact and taught him how you shouldn't make assumptions about someone before you know them.
In Night, he informs his reader of many examples on how a myriad of good people turn into brutes. They see horrific actions, therefore, they cannot help by becoming a brute. They experience their innocent family members being burned alive, innocent people dieing from starvation due to a minuscule proportion of food, and innocent people going to take a shower and not coming out because truly, it is a gas chamber and all f...
In the poems “Feliks Skrzynecki” and “St Patrick’s College”, Peter Skrzynecki explores the relationship between understanding and belonging through his experiences, both with his father and at school. Brandon Sanderson delves into the effects prejudice can have on acceptance in the novel “Mistborn: The Final Empire”. These texts all demonstrate how inclusion can be prevented by a reluctance to accept or engage. Peter feels estranged from his father in “Feliks Skrzynecki” and disconnected with his school in “St Patrick’s College”. The concepts of disconnection and estrangement are further revealed in “Mistborn: The Final Empire”, along with perceptions of exclusion. Collectively, the texts
Everything is criticized at every level in this story, the people by the main character, the main character by the author and even the story by the author as well. The cruel egoistic personality of Anders is definitely identifiable through these different levels of criticism. I will prove that the inner motivation of this behaviour derives from Anders' egoistic personality which sometimes makes him cruel against others, sometimes against himself. Furthermore, I will prove that whenever Anders criticizes somebody or something he actually tries to punish because of the imperfectness of the object. In order to make the referring to the different part of the story easier I divide it into three parts. The first part ends when the robbers appear at the door of the bank, the second ends when one of the robbers shoots at Anders and the left is the third part.
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
In “A Brief Encounter with the Enemy” by Said Sayrafiezadeh, Luke, a pessimistic soldier, walks down memory lane as he travels the path to get to the hill during his last recon. He remembers appreciating nature, encountering and writing to Becky, the first time he’d shot a gun, and Christmas leave. Luke identifies the moment when he realizes that he had joined the army for the wrong reason, after crossing the bridge his team built in order to cross the valley, and at the same time dreading the return to his former office job. Boredom and nothingness destroy him mentally as he waits for enemies to appear. When the enemies finally appear, he shoots them down and goes home the next day. Sayrafiezadeh proposes that expectations don’t always equate
In relation to the theme of isolation in this novel, Anderson uses this chapter to illustrate how the characters in the town of Winesburg should be perceived. Characters that are “grotesque” because they live their lives by a single “truth” that prevents them from maturing, developing, and ultimately growing into what Anderson...
Two men who fight over a jackknife in "Enemies", a chapter in Tim O'Brien's work, The Things They Carried. A cultural studies approach to "Enemies" allows the reader to look much deeper into the meaning of the events that unfold in "Enemies". The fight over the knife could very well reflect the events occurring in society during that time.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” utilize character responsibilities to create a sinister plot. For Hawthorne, protagonist Young Goodman Brown must leave his wife at home while he partakes in a night journey. For Poe, ancillary Fortunato covets a pretentious manner towards his wine tasting skills, and after being ‘challenged’ decides to prove his expertise by sampling Amontillado. Hawthorne and Poe showcase a theme of darkness but differ in their approach to the setting, characters, and fate of entrapment.
The first and most evident example of alienation and isolation in the novel is Len...
Bellow and Pynchon are great authors who have widely succeeded in creating characters in their novels who are in search or in need of something; from themselves to answers, knowledge, and power to name a few of the many. These characters tell a story in which the question of perceived individuality within a community receives an answer. Both of the characters of Oedipa of Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 and Joseph from Bellow’s The Dangling Man have similarities between each other and their own specific qualities. It is in the way that the audience perceives these characters versus the way that these characters perceive themselves in the midst of their community that there lies an answer to the individual’s place in their society.
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go to great lengths to fanatically defend their honor.
The poem begins by describing the lunatic as a man with very animal tendencies, “with starting pace” and “with wide and hollow eyes” (lines 2-3) These characteristics alone give the reader a vivid image of how this man acts, and immediately sets low expectations for his character in a social and intellectual sense. His primitivism shows as “his cold bed upon the mountain turf” (6) is mentioned, furthering the image of a wildly sav...
Samsa’s thoughts highlight “this town is full of hatred and hostility, especially when my parents abandon and treat me poorly. It is a shame that some people’s economic statuses in the town make it difficult for them to fit in the society. I imagine the historic, cultural and social context of the story is based on some ominous creature. I believe that my role in the society is based on historical processes that I am unaware. I believe that the ethnic tension between three groups that were the Jews, Czechs, and Germans affects societal processes”.
The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness, two of Joseph Conrad’s more well-known novellas, share striking similarities in theme, plot, character development, and symbolism. Each novella presents a seafaring first-person narrator who struggles psychologically with the concept of darkness and other deep themes. “Heart of Darkness is one of literature’s most somber fictions. It explores the fundamental questions about human nature: the capacity for evil, the necessity of restraint, the effects of isolation, and the necessity of relinquishing pride to achieve spiritual salvation” (Haskin). Conrad explores his major theme of human duality in both of his works.