Sheila Heti’s short story “The Raspberry Bush” presents the theme of the realization that Life is short through imagery, metaphors and characters. The imagery used to describe the raspberry bush represents the change between the young and elderly, and the physical life of the raspberry bush parallels metaphorically to the passing of human life, alluding to the belief that life is short. The realization of this belief is seen through the protagonist’s reaction to the death of her raspberry bush and how it greatly affects her entire mental state. Each of these techniques help to portray the meaning and theme of Heti’s short story.
The use of adjectives to describe the raspberry bush paints a picture that leads the reader to believe, that this
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imagery represents the difference between the young and the elderly. Heti describes the bush as having “perky red raspberries” when the plant was alive, but then when found dead, the raspberries were “black and brittle” (MLA format). The word perky is an applicable trait to human personality and emotion, and the color red has a tendency to be associated with love, passion and fire; the imagery of these raspberries alludes to the protagonist as once being a perky, passionate, fiery, loved and fruitful young girl. The word brittle is an applicable physical elderly human trait, referring to the fact that the human body becomes fragile with age, and the color black has a tendency to be associated with darkness and death; this imagery of the raspberries alludes to the protagonist as now being old, brittle and near death. Heti describes the protagonist as “the little old lady” and the age of the protagonist’s sister being “eighty-eight” years of age, reinforces the reader’s knowledge that the protagonist is old and likely near the end of her days (MLA format). This imagery represents the difference between the young and the elderly in life and through this imagery, the idea of what once was and what now is sets the stage for the realization that life is short. The physical life of the raspberry bush parallels metaphorically to the passing of human life.
Heti mentions twice in this short story that the raspberry bush “had died overnight” (MLA Format). The quick and short death of the flourishing raspberry bush overnight, suggests metaphorically that life is short and passes by quickly. This idea is also reinforced by the description of what the protagonist planned to do with the raspberries, “she had planned to eat [them], one by one, every last one of them. But overnight the bush had died and there wouldn’t be raspberries ever again” (MLA Format). The concept of eating the healthy raspberries one by one proposes that the protagonist took one step at a time, one day at a time during her youth. The incredible sadness the old lady expresses in this scene, that the raspberries would never “ever again” be alive, implies that her life will never again be the same, for she cannot go day by day anymore because she cannot get back the days of her youth. The perspective that the raspberry bush represents life and it’s passing, is also linked to the imagery of the raspberry fruit itself. Heti states, “[H]er beautiful raspberry bush that had died overnight” alludes to the notion that the raspberry bush is the protagonists life and that it was once beautiful, but now has passed by quickly, and she is nearing her end (MLA Format). This metaphorical parallel between human life and the raspberry bush’s life is an essential technique that Heti …show more content…
uses in her short story to portraying the main theme that life is short. The realization that Life is short is seen through the protagonist’s reaction to the death of her raspberry bush and how it greatly affects her entire mental state. Heti presents the protagonist, throughout the story as the “little old woman who never stopped smiling” however, it is very evident that the protagonist is in fact, not happy. Only once, in the entire story is the woman’s smile described, yet it is described as a curl of the lips suggesting that this smile is not a true representation of happiness (MLA Format). The unhappiness of the old woman is also presented in her crying; Heti states that the old lady had been crying for twenty minutes in the sun looking at her dead raspberries and that “she cried at her table every day, but no one knew it” (MLA Format). Not only did Heti show the protagonists sadness through her tears, but also in the protagonists attempt to reach out to her sister and express her sorrow, to which her sister invalidated her by saying, “Everyone…is miserable”(MLA Format). The old woman’s melancholy is also shown through her dialogue with the delivery boy. The protagonist knows that the flowers are not for her, for Heti’s use of a period instead of an exclamation or question mark in the statement “These can’t be for me” points to the old woman’s hopelessness and that she will not find happiness ever again (MLA Format). All of this evidence goes to prove that the protagonist is clearly unhappy, despite the narrating describing her as being “the woman who never stopped smiling” (MLA Format). Nonetheless, the purpose of this contrast adverts to the idea that the realization that Life is short is stagnating to one’s mental state. The narrator knows that the woman had never stopped smiling, which leads the reader to believe that she was once content with her life, but the contrasting actions described by the narrator shows the reader that now the protagonist is clearly depressed. This contrast and idea that the protagonist was once happy and is now miserable, clearly demonstrates the immense power of the realization that Life is short, which is the central theme Heti is trying to portray. Through the imagery used to describe the raspberry bush representing the change between the young and the elderly; the physical life of the raspberry bush that metaphorically parallels to human life and it’s passing ; and the incredible effects on the mental state of the protagonist in this story by her reaction to the death of her raspberry bush, Sheila Heti presents the theme of the realization that Life is short.
The imagery, parallel metaphors and character development enhances the readers understanding of the meaning of this short story; realizing Life is short. One’s life can be beautiful, fruitful and young, taking one step at a time, but in the blink of an eye or overnight one can realize that life has quickly, slipped passed and the days, hours, minutes that one has left on this earth are numbered and can have stagnating effects on one’s mental state. For realizing that Life is short, presents the inevitable end of Death, and one begins to question if their life has been meaningful or purposeful, and if it has not, leaves one in great
despair.
In conclusion, the story describes that life changes, and nothing stays the same throughout it. It is in the hands of the people to decide that how they want their life to be. They can make it as beautiful as they want to and they can also make it worse than it has ever been
Frantically reliving and watching her previous life, Emily inquires to her parents, ““Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?” (Wilder, 182). Emily is terrified on Earth because she knows her future. She is not disappointed with the actions she made on Earth, but she is disappointed that she didn’t appreciate the little actions in life. She carried herself through life like it would never end and she never needed to acknowledge the importance of those little actions. Being an example of the theme that life is a series of thoughtless events that make up one impactful life, Emily wishes she appreciated her small actions instead of taking them for
The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.
The theme of this novel is to look at the good you do in life and how it carries over after your death. The moral of the book is; "People can make changes in their lives whenever they really want to, even right up to the end."
The author Eugenia Collier of the story “Marigolds” uses diction, connotation, and imagery to touch the hearts, and create pictures in the minds of her audience. One example of when diction is used was when the author wrote “Old witch fell in a ditch picked up a penny and thought she was rich.” The story “Marigolds” is a true story based on actual events that occurred in the author Eugenia Collier’s life. When the author wrote this, she showed how rude and childish her young self once was. By doing this, the author Eugenia Collier is able to emphasize the big change of when she transitions from a childish 14 year old, into a more mature young adult. Also, one example of imagery used in this story “Marigolds” was when the author Eugenia Collier,
The plot of The first strawberries is simple and clear: a loving couple who separate after an argument is finally reconciled. Since the very beginning of the story, the reader feels empathy for the couple and participates in their happiness, anger, sadness, and reconciliation. The clean style maintains the outline of early retellings. There are not moral lessons to be learned, just a beautifully told story of love and forgiveness.
The first thing I thought about after finishing the story was how routine the old woman’s trip to town was. The walk is described as a long dreaded walk through countless fields and an endless line of forest trees. In describing her routine I will point the different quotes and given situations that made me see a link to our societies circle of life. Her innocence can be seen as the representation of a child. As she walks she bends over and sips from a nearby stream she sensed, “sweet-gum makes the water taste sweet”. (A Worn Path, 1276) Here her curiosity also shows a strong relation between the child-old woman analogies.
In life, stories are an essential component of human survival and success. Stories enable people’s legacies to continue even when they pass away. Also, stories allow the storyteller freedom to share what he chooses to. The significance of stories is demonstated throughout literary works. Some works that show the significance of stories include, The Things They Carried, The Big Fish, “The Evolutionary Case for Great Fiction” and “For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov.” Stories are an essential aspect to human life because of their ability to keep memories alive as they aid man in coping with death and post-traumatic stress. Also, stories play an important role in many different areas ranging from the survival of a species to preparation for a job interview.
The story that the woman describes is about an incident that happens when her brother takes her to a glade where there is a grape tree standing alone. Her brother starts to climb the tree while she admires the tree filled with the grapes. Climbing even higher and picking some grapes to eat, he bends the tree to try to let her have some. As she picks her own grapes, he tells her to hold the top of the tree. So she holds the tree as she was told. The tree, however, catches and suspends her, and it keeps her there for a minute with its grapes. She starts to cry like a baby and does not know what to do. But she clings to the tree, even though her brother is telling her to let go. Trying to bend the tree down, her brother tells her to wait until he leads her down. Finally, against his advice she falls off the tree and feels the ground with her feet. Since the incident happened, the life that she has been living is something different than what she expects or what people expect. She knows sh...
Context statement : Joe Fassler’s short story “The Ghost of Berries” is the narrative of a young boy who struggles with temptation and his journey to find real fruit to grant his mother’s dying wish.In the short story, the author explores society’s use of desire as the mean of void for stability results in affliction. Through Fassler’s use of setting, characterization and symbolism, he argues that in societies were poverty is present, desire is a cycle that is sometimes an unknown feeling for those in the down and outs and that once it is a known feeling, desire overpower individuals leading to more suffering.
Although imagery and symbolism does little to help prepare an expected ending in “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, setting is the singular element that clearly reasons out an ending that correlates with the predominant theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing a grim realism from the cruel world. Despite the joyous atmosphere of an apparently beautiful world of abundant corn and cotton, death and hatred lies on in the woods just beyond the sharecropper cabin. Myop’s flowers are laid down as she blooms into maturity in the face of her fallen kinsman, and the life of summer dies along with her innocence. Grim realism has never been so cruel to the innocent children.
The nature of the wife’s interaction with the berries solidifies this metaphor. She puts them “in her mouth” (13), and “Bends or straightens” (5) repeatedly to each bush, while they “taste good to her” (15). These actions aid in demonstrating the flirtation and sexual imagery that exists between the wife and the berries. Moreover, the jealousy the speaker has towards the berries, as well as the wife’s love for the berries over him, further strengthens this metaphor of another man with the speaker’s wife. Another way Layton shows the negative effects of the natural world on the relationship is by using diction, the “word choice” (p.1488) in the poem, to link and distance specific individuals or objects in the poem. The speaker describes the berries as lying “easily” (17), which connects them to the wife’s “easy soul” (21). Similarly, he describes the wife as having “quiet hands” (7), which connects her with the silent berries and the “quiet summer” (7). Additionally, the natural berries are “unoffending” (18), which presents a contrast between them and the husband, who is “vex[ing]” (9), “perplex[ing]” (9) and “barbarous” (16). Finally, Layton utilizes the rhyme scheme of the poem to mirror
In “The Black Walnut Tree” by Mary Oliver, the narrator debates her mother to try to decide whether or not to sell a walnut tree that is in their backyard to try and help her father pay off the mortgage. The poet’s use of diction and imagery presents the theme that simple, ordinary things can have a huge emotional impact on people.
Pushing aside the veil, a serene, dainty clearing holding a plaintive tree looms ahead. Encompassing the woodland surrounding it, crisp, sun-kissed air and numerous vivid, colorful trees brought the feeling of autumn. Its amber, leafy arms arch, extending upward, begging for help in a world cold to its desperation. The vermilion crown clasped varied carmine berries within its grasp, some decaying others fresh and fuzzy. Wind glides through the clearing, causing the berries to quiver; they stumble towards the ground, disheartened, and unwilling to continue any longer. The tree feels the same as the berries. Branches intermingle fabricating an unyielding shelter to the candid animals. The trunk, withered and wistful, arches with the pressure
Many people have common experiences during their brush with death, like time passing slowly. In the story,