Satire In The Other Paris By Marvis Gallant

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Over time the once utmost valued institution, the institution of marriage, has devalued over time. The pensive observation of this devaluating institution has led Marvis Gallant to provide social commentary in her excerpt; “The Other Paris.” Gallant has employed satire to convey an image representing the martial tie between her two characters Carol and Howard; she also uses a narrative voice employing vivid imagery, cliché symbols and fine details.
With each character being a delegate to the gender roles in modern married couples, Gallant uses characterization to explicitly describe the characters’ symbolic representation. She expounds on Howard and Carol to note that marriage has debased from finding true love to just being content with someone compatible. …show more content…

Imagery is initially utilized in the title, Paris is often inferred as the ‘city of love’ hence is heavily romanticized for being the perfect proposal scenario. Within Paris is the misty background of the Eiffel tower, a cliché symbol for romance. She further uses imagery such as the “barrows of violets” and “acacias in flowers” to convey the essence of proposal. The next technique is the fine detail such as “tuna fish” and the three weeks Howard and Carol had known each other.
Gallant illustrates societal impact and influences over an individual’s actions through the use of characterization and satire; she also infers that marriage is no longer focused around affection and altruism rather it is conformed to the social norm. Gallant also reasons that marriage basically has lost its esteem considering the fact that the people who get married don't get married out of true

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