Discovery plays a role in every life, yet exploration of the unknown comes with consequences that may be unforeseen with no logical thought prior to action. In “Graveyard Shift” by Stephen King, the main character, John Hall, works at a mill during the company’s offtime and explores the basement and its sub-level while trying to clean and remove rats from the area. It goes poorly and the men who explored the sub-level die by its dark agents murdering them brutally. There are symbols spread throughout the story that depict a common theme. The mutated rats, reversed trap door, and decomposers fight back for their isolation, the theme displayed is some things are better left unexplored. The reversed trap door is an excellent example of the theme. …show more content…
At first in the Mill, the rats only judged Hall and watched him with cold eyes. His time in the picking room is spent antagonizing the rats and they seem benevolent at first. They don’t reciprocate that same violence as Hall displays,they just scatter and the watch him once he gets to work. This is shown when the narrator says, “ And after a while, the rats came out and sat atop the bags at the back of the long room watching him with their unblinking black eyes. They looked like a jury” (2). It indicates that their danger is not something that Hall is worried about,the rats just freak him out to an extent. Yet as the men venture into the first level of the basement, the rats start to approach them and attack, becoming more hostile in their presence. Their antics work to an extent, some men uit and refuse to work with the dangerous conditions the rats present, but for the most part, the expedition of furniture, dirt, and rats continues. This is exemplified in this line. “One of them had sat up on their hind legs like a squirrel until Hall got in kicking distance, and then it had launched itself at hids boot, biting the leather” (4). They become more aggressive by presence only, not only incitation of violence. The increasing aggression only …show more content…
The fungus that accompanies it is also large and overgrown, as it feasts on flesh, “His hand had come in contact with them as he pulled and yanked at a rusty-toothed wheel, and they (white toadstools) felt curiously warm and bloated, like the flesh of a man afflicted with dropsy” (3). It gives the final sign as to what lies down beneath the basement before the main characters die. It implies that death has occured here before, and it will happen again. It applies some foreshadowing elements to the theme, that the ultimate consequence for untamed exploration and curiosity is death. The incomplete skeleton also exemplifies death. The skull itself is just bone and is accompanied by spare parts of a skeleton. “A skull, green with mould, laughed up at them. Further on, hall could see am ulna, one pelvic wing, part of a ribcage” (11). If the body decomposed normally, then it wouldn’t be askew and in pieces. This form of death means that the rats had torn the person to bits and the rats that had been in the basement had completed their task of impeding the advancement of discovery as the bones are skewed around by the extended movement of the rats. The fact that the body and the fungi are both down in level underground levels means that death is occurring and whichever man attempts to come down the stairs will meet it. This serves as a final warning before the punishment is
The sugar skull is obviously referring to the Mexican tradition called dia de los muertos. Dia de los muertos takes place during the end of october and the first of November. This celebration is an important holiday as it is considered a vital part of Mexican identity, and identity in which is a combination of mesoamerican rituals, European beliefs, and Spanish culture. Mesoamerican culture shared many of the same traditions when celebrating their ancestors. Dia de los muertos isn’t about the final resting place of the dead, but instead the beginning of a new journey. A journey to the Machlin, a final resting place for the souls. Due to Spanish colonization, death rituals were influenced by new laws and lifestyles. Spain and the catholic church made an lasting influence on the cultures of mesoamerica. Many of these influences were a cause of mass war and the bubonic plague. Life and death balanced together like right and wrong, good versus evil, eventually creating a general understanding that life and death, itself, is a cyclical journey. Europeans brought the idea of cemeteries to the indigenous people. Today there is evidence of this with sugar skulls and celebrations in the cemetery and homes. According to The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity, Stanley Brandes
This article is a narrative. It does not aim to analyse the topic. It describes the author's experiences at the mortuary and the resulting disturbing thoughts she had.
The use of recurring symbols in the unsettling text, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) and the influential film, V for Vendetta (2005) serves to reinforce an array of different concepts including; ideas are bulletproof and the idea of escaping danger. Symbols are (also) used as constant reminders of two imposing ideas in the two texts. The symbols used to represent the concept that ideas are bulletproof are the two protagonists in each text, V (Hugo Weaving) and McMurphy. In order to constantly remind the audience of a certain idea, James McTeigue uses the letter V in V for Vendetta and Ken Kesey uses the fog which constantly surrounds Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Finally, aspects of nature are used throughout both texts in order to symbolize the idea of emancipation from over-arching threats.
The skeleton that is portrayed in this story as a symbol for self destruction; in terms of morbidity/mortality. Mr. Harris has multiple instances in which symbolism was exemplified. For example, on page 38, when Bradbury states that the skeleton is “Vultures lunch and breakfast for me, and then there you’ll lie there grinning. Grinning with victory”. And that “vulture” he is referring to is the skeleton into Mr. Harris, and that vulture is eating away at him, but also his conscience and the pain that is plaguing the insides of Mr. Harris’ body, which is constricting his well-being and the health, both physically, and
A symbol is a unique term because it can represent almost anything such as people, beliefs, and values. Symbols are like masks that people put on to describe their true self. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author uses Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley to represent a mockingbird which illustrates the theme of innocence by presenting these characters as two harmless citizens that do not pose a threat to Maycomb.
The author, William Golding, shows many forms of symbolism in the novel, Lord of the Flies. Symbolism means use of symbols to represent an idea from its actual meaning. In this novel, Golding uses symbolism from the beginning to the end of the novel. During the novel, these symbols continue to change and give a new meaning. Three significant symbols from the novel include the conch, the fire, and the beast. Each symbol changes throughout the novel and revolves around the evil that is inside people. There is always a beast within when the darkness comes out.
Hall and Warwick were left alone to go deeper down. While down there, they found enormous rats covering the floors, crunching every time they walked, pterodactyl sized rats with wings and the farther they walked they found the mother of all beasts. To save himself, Hall pushes Warwick into the mother and she eats him alive while screeching into the dark abyss, and Hall tries running away but is trailed by rats crawling up his body eating him alive as well, feeding, as he laughs, practically going insane. “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.” (Bible, Revelation 17:8) The sub-basement in the short story is symbolic of hell -- the deeper they went, the bigger the demon they found, the more terrifying and horrific things got. At the very ending where Hall is being eaten alive, he laughs a high pitched laugh while feeling his body fall numb and this wouldn 't be possible if he hadn’t been working the graveyard shift. Working at night means working with the moon and
Bigger's first encounter with a rat foreshadows what will happen to him later on in the story and explains his reaction to danger. ?The rat automatically becomes a natural enemy and an invader the moment it is discovered in Bigger's apartment? (Hakutani 41). Bigger's family is instantly afraid of the rat and demands its destruction. Buddy blocks the entrance to the rat's home, leaving the rat trapped in the room with no escape. Finally, the rat becomes frenzied and resorts to violence to protect itself from Bigger and Buddy. "The rat squeaked and turned and ran in a narrow circle, looking for a place to hide; it leaped again past Bigger and scurried on dry rasping feet to one side of the box and then to the other, searching for the hole. Then it turned and reared upon its hind legs" (Wright 4). Initially, the rat is shown as helpless, with no intent to hurt Bigger. The rat's fight for its survival becomes so desperate, however, that it leaps at Bigger's pant leg in an attempt to protect itself.
For good reason, the novelist chose not to begin her story with the chilling event of the dreary night in November. Instead of a major event, the book opens with a series of letters from Robert Walton. It is not his want for the voyage of discovery, but his obsession with fame, that drives him to the unknown in hopes of being credited with expanding mankind's knowledge and control of the universe. Similarly, Victor Frankenstein is drawn to the mysteries of experiments with the unknown.
The cave is a symbol of life close minded people live. The prisoners in the cave have never seen anything but the cave. For example, people who are taught to be racists from the time they are born are most likely will grow up racist, they don’t understand other people’s ideas or reasons of others just the ones they were taught. Another example, could be when I went on vacation and at
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the concept of "discovery" is paradoxical: initial discovery is joyful and innocent, but ends in misery and corruption. The ambitions of both Walton and Frankenstein (to explore new lands and to cast scientific light on the unknown, respectively) are formed with the noblest of intentions but a fatal disregard for the sanctity of natural boundaries. Though the idea of discovery remains idealized, human fallibility utterly corrupts all pursuit of that ideal. The corruption of discovery parallels the corruption inherent in every human life, in that a child begins as a pure and faultless creature, full of wonder, but hardens into a self-absorbed, grasping, overly ambitious adult. Only by novel's end does Walton recognize that he must abandon his own ambition (the mapping of previously uncharted land), out of concern for the precious lives of his crew.
The symbols in The Things They Carried range from a pair of stockings from a soldier's girlfriend to tranquilizers. Some of the soldiers carried many items while other soldiers only carried a few items. The soldiers carried items such as letters, photographs, pebbles, stockings, tranquilizers, and drugs.
In the play titled Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster Wright is being accused of murdering her husband, John. In this production, Mrs. Wright is consistently referenced, and although she is not witnessed, she is very recognizable. There are important symbols in this play that signifies Mrs. Wright and her existence as it once was and as it currently exists to be. Particularly the canary, this symbolizes Mrs. Wright's long forgotten past. Additionally, the birdcage, this symbolizes her life as it currently exists. Certainly the quilt is a symbol, which is an important clue on how Mr. Wright was killed. In addition, the rocking chair, this symbolizes her life as it has diminished throughout the duration of her most recently survived years. Lastly, but not least, the containers of cherry preserves that seem to be a symbol of the warmth and compassion that she has yet to discover in her life. Every one of these symbolizes and characterizes Mrs. Wright?s character and her existence in the play.
Victor Frankenstein’s scientific endeavor, Robert Walton’s search for the North Pole, and the creature’s kind heart but scary features creates this whole theme of dangerous knowledge. The search for knowledge is encouraged and at times pushed by others. In Frankenstein is shows quest can lead to too much knowledge and drive him or her to his fate.
Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a story about a band of patients in a mental ward who struggle to find their identity and get away from the wretched Nurse. As audiences read about the tale, many common events and items seen throughout the story actually represent symbols for the bigger themes of the story. Symbols like the fishing trip, Nurse, and electroshock therapy all emphasize the bigger themes of the story.