Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta by Kate Braverman
Cocaine made her a schizophrenic. In Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta, Kate Braverman writes about a cocaine addicted mother going through drug and alcohol counseling and rehab. She is a creative writing teacher and gains inspiration from her drug trips. The teacher is referred to as "she" throughout the story and fights her addictions that manifest into a scrappy looking man named Lenny. Through the voice of addiction, the change in Lenny's appearance and the role of colors, it is evident that a physical dependence on mind altering drugs cannot be escaped.
The role of a speaking conscience is prevalent in the human mind and influences evaluated decisions, but what happens when the voice says come back to drugs. The addiction has a mind of its own transcended by Lenny's voice. The addiction is alive and Lenny's voice begins to seduce her back to the self destructive lifestyle. "I've had my eye on you'" (90). The addiction is out to get her despite a five month sabbatical from drugs and after AA meetings to overcome the addiction to alcohol. Additionally, she quit smoking but the voice, Lenny, plants the seeds of relapse. His claim her tracks are beautiful allows him to slowly woo her back to her old lifestyle. Lenny gives her a chance to live out some fantasy life, her imagination runs wild with motorcycle rides and diamond necklaces. The life of a drug addict appears thrilling. Lenny reveals that he knows her new life and fans the flames of her crash back into drugs. "I know all about you. I know you routine. I been watching you for two weeks. Ever since I got to town'" (92). Lenny is omniscient and explains he follows her, a form of reconnaissance, alluding to war specifically Vietnam a subject often penned by creative writers. She finds herself at an AA meeting, arriving alone but soon is greeted by The Addiction holding coffee. The addiction is in love with her, wishes to marry her, have a child with her, and protect her. Since she is divorced he offers the companionship and love of a spouse a relationship she wishes for. Lenny, the addiction, wishes to take this role. More importantly, Lenny offers her creative writing inspiration, "Want to hear about R and R in Bangkok? Want to hear about what you get for a hundred bucks on the river?
The voyage of the narwhal is a novel by Andrea Barrett, who reveals many aspects of the search for fame and glory, versus search for the truth. When the characters leave for the voyage with the same mission, it is the drive of their different motives for the expedition that separates their destiny on the trip. It was the commander that in blindness of fame led the expedition to tragedy and loss. Through out this novel the author reveals through the characters that the search for the truth is more important than the search of fame and wealth.
Jimmy Dean once advised, “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination.” The novel A Long Walk to Water authored by Linda Sue Park, is a work of realistic historical fiction and a dual narrative focused on adjusting to change. One storyline is about a young eleven year old girl named Nya who is apart of the Nuer tribe and lives in Sudan. Nya lives the life of a young Sudanese girls because they collect water for their family every day. The other storyline is about an eleven year old boy named Salva who is in the Dinka tribe and lives in Sudan, but travels throughout many countries and states in his life. Salva’s story line shows how getting attacked by rebels and escaping from civil war changed his and many others’ lives. Both characters face many changes throughout the story. Linda Sue Park wants readers to know to accept change for good or bad.
Princess Redbird, eldest daughter of king of the people of the Great Forest, or the Hsien, must learn to stay true to herself, while having to cope with the changing times around her. The year is 531 A.D. in Southern China, and Princess Redbird is normally attending the boarding school of Kao-Liang at the Chinese colony. Redbird then only returns to see her family at the Hsien capital, Kingfisher Hill, for holidays. At Kao-Liang she learns to read and write in the Chinese language. Back at her home, the town of Kingfisher Hill, the capitol of the Hsien, everyone is completely illiterate. This makes Redbird's abilities to not only both read and write, but also know about Chinese history very bizarre. At the colony, Redbird stays with the Chens, the family of Chinese nobles whose head, Master Chen, the teacher at Kao-Liang, allowed her to stay. While the Chinese ways are quite different, Redbird admires Master Chen's love for books, literature, and overall taste for Chinese history. She also comes to respect the rest of the Chens. From Madame, Master Chen's daughter in-law, to Madame's children, her son Lin, and her 2 daughters Ch'ai, who is 4 years older than Princess Redbird, and Yü, who is 1 year younger. However when Redbird is unexpectedly summoned home, she fears that it is because the Dog Heads', (who are "a savage folk who take people's heads for the power they symbolize") threat has suddenly grown, as they are seemingly becoming bolder, and increasing in numbers.
China Men - The Brother in Vietnam & nbsp; In her tale, "The Brother in Vietnam," author Maxine Hong Kingston relates the drastic misinterpretation of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" on the part of the "brother's" students. It is clear to the reader that their disillusioned thoughts and ideas of the world were instilled in their vulnerable minds by their own parents at young ages, an occurrence that still takes place in our society today. In his account of the situation, the brother first clearly makes a note that these confused and suspicious students comprise not one of his elementary classes, but rather his only non-remedial class. From this he is evidently implying that one would expect a heightened ability to understand and more accurately analyze the power and beauty of great literature on the part of the students. Thus from the beginning, the reader is alerted to the fact that their confusion the students perceive this Shakespearean tragedy as a horror story, the mere thought of it shadowed in their minds by fear. They see the Montagues and Capulets as families driven mad; Verona as a plague-infested country where killing and marriage take place in dark regions alike. They infer from it that young love is dangerous, and by reading of a suicide made possible by a potion that was initially intended to preserve tender love instead of stealing it, their notions that there is evil in everything seem The brother, frustrated and upset, is unable to "shift the emphasis" that the play has left on these youths, and he feels that he is to blame for "spoil[ing] the love story for a generation of students. " The reader looking on from the outside, however, is able to see that the brother could not have prevented this warped learning no matter how hard he tried. For it seems that the fault lies in the parents of these young people, who were continually planting seeds of suspicion and fear in their children's vulnerable minds. In fact, as we look back on the author's former accounts as a child, it seems that these Chinese parents told their children lies more often than the actual truth. told by her mother that their religion was Chinese. She further remembers her parents having claimed upon the birth of her younger brother, which she had secretly witnessed, that the infant had been miraculously discovered "naked under a pine tree" on Christmas Day. Still perhaps the most disturbing of all is the author's recollection of the war through the eyes of her younger self. Her memories are uncannily realistic and vivid; nevertheless, she was, on more than one occasion, told by her mother that what as a young girl. However, to any reader, it is evident that these are not, and can in no way be mere "scary movie flashbacks." As a result, we are left asking ourselves why any parent would teach their children what they know is untrue. In the case of a war, it is somewhat easier to comprehend the desperation of parents to hold their families together from the tearing claws of battle. And if it will prove to be the only glue that will preserve the family structure, such lying seems more acceptable.
Every individual has two lives, the life we live, and the life we live after that. Nobody is perfect, but if one works hard enough, he or she can stay away from failure. The Natural is a novel written by Bernard Malamud. It is Malamud’s first novel that initially received mixed reactions but afterwards, it was regarded as an outstanding piece of literature. It is a story about Roy Hobbs who after making mistakes in his life, he returns the bribery money and is left with self-hatred for mistakes he has done. Hobbs was a baseball player who aspired to be famous, but because of his carnal and materialistic desire, his quest for heroism failed, as he was left with nothing. In the modern world, the quest for heroism is a difficult struggle, and this can be seen through the protagonist in The Natural.
He uses the drug as an excuse to escape his life so he does not have to communicate with others.
In the story, The Natural, certain characters and events are portrayed in a distinctive way that makes this story unique to other books and shows the typical writing style of the narrator. The author uses a repetitive writing technique that is impossible to overlook. The writer of this book is able to catch the reader’s eye with his concept of the importance of beautiful description. The Natural, by Bernard Malamud, uses great imagery that makes the story appealing.
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a story of science, religion and the life of the Henrietta Lacks herself. It has won many awards and was on the New York Best Seller list for over three years. To summarize it briefly, the book is based on the cells of Henrietta Lacks who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Sometime before she died, some of her tissue was sampled and used for research without her permission. They used the cells form her body to experiment on which led to many breakthrough discoveries in the scientific world. The cells were later named HeLa cells. No one in her family knew about this until years after her death, so they felt like she was just being used as an experiment from which they got nothing. When looking at the book as a whole, it is easy to see why so many people hold it in such high regards; however it appealed to me in a different way.
When reflecting and writing on Eiseley’s essay and the “magical element”, I balk. I think to myself, “What magic?”, and then put pen to page. I dubiously choose a kiddie pool to draw inspiration from, and unexpectedly, inspiration flows into me. As I sit here in this little 10x30 foot backyard, the sky is filled with the flowing gaseous form of water, dark patches of moist earth speckle the yard, the plants soak up their scattered watering, and the leaves of bushes and trees imbue the space with a sense of dampness from their foliage. As my senses tune into the moisture that surrounds me, I fill Braedon’s artificial pond with water. I stare at the shimmering surface, contemplating Eiseley’s narrative, and the little bit of life’s wellspring caught in Brae’s pool. I see why Eiseley thought the most abundant compound on the earth’s surface is mystical.
Loyalty can be perceived in many different ways. Loyalty may be shown by an individual as repayment, sympathy, or it may just be a part of one’s character and personality. Ultimately, loyalty is an act of faithfulness, reliability, and commitment. The opposite, disloyalty, is an act of dishonesty. In the novel: “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen, the main character, Jacob Jankowski, portrays elements of, both, loyalty and disloyalty. Jacob is deceiving and disloyal in many aspects of this novel; however, once he learns lessons of loyalty from other characters, he embraces loyalty in return – it becomes evident that Jacob’s actions were acts of repayment towards his peers.
A narcissist is one who believes “he or she is ‘special’ and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special” people. They exploit others for their own advantage, lack empathy, and are “preoccupied with fantasies” or ideals that can be unrealistic. They believe they are the “primary importance in everybody’s life”. (“Narcissistic Personality”) Henry James’ theme in his short story, “The Beast in the Jungle”, is about a man, who is so egotistical and self-absorbed that he misses what life has to offer him, in particular, love, because of the narcissistic behavior he is doomed to live a life of loneliness and misery. John Marcher, the protagonist of “The Beast in the Jungle”, is about a narcissistic upper-class man who believes his life is to be defined by some unforetold event. He focuses only on himself and as a result, he neglects everything and everyone in his life. Marcher meets May Bartram, a woman who knows his secret, and instead of pursuing a romantic relationship with her, or even a genuine friendship, he uses her for his own benefit. Henry James utilizes a variety of literary devices to convey this theme in his story, such as the title, symbolism, dialogue, and the use of a limited third-person narrative. Henry James leaves us our first clue to the theme in the title, “The Beast in the Jungle”. When one thinks of a beast, they typically imagine something big and ferocious; Marcher’s ego was just that.
In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four characters are centralized throughout this novel because they provide the reader with an inside account of what life is like during a time where traditional Africa begins to change due to the forceful injection of conquering settlers and religions. This creates a split between family members, a mixing of cultures, and the loss of one’s traditions in the Bambara society which is a reflection of the (WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES) changes that occur in societies across the world.
Drugs is one of the themes in this story that shows the impact of both the user and their loved ones. There is no doubt that heroin destroys lives and families, but it offers a momentary escape from the characters ' oppressive environment and serves as a coping mechanism to help deal with the human suffering that is all around him. Suffering is seen as a contributing factor of his drug addiction and the suffering is linked to the narrator’s daughter loss of Grace. The story opens with the narrator feeling ice in his veins when he read about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. The two brothers are able to patch things up and knowing that his younger brother has an addiction. He still buys him an alcoholic drink at the end of the story because, he has accepted his brother for who he really is.
“The Jungle,” written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, describes how the life and challenges of immigrants in the United States affected their emotional and physical state, as well as relationships with others. The working class was contrasted to wealthy and powerful individuals who controlled numerous industries and activities in the community. The world was always divided into these two categories of people, those controlling the world and holding the majority of the power, and those being subjected to them. Sinclair succeeded to show this social gap by using the example of the meatpacking industry. He explained the terrible and unsafe working conditions workers in the US were subjected to and the increasing rate of corruption, which created the feeling of hopelessness among the working class.
In the "Gilded Age" immigrants from all over the world became part of America's working nation in hopes of finding a new and better life for themselves and their families. As more and more new families moved to America with high hopes, more and more people fell victims to the organized society, politics, and institutions better described as, the system. The system was like a jungle, implying that only the strong survived and the weak perished. Bosses always picked the biggest and strongest from a throng of people desperate for work, and if you were big and strong, you were more likely to get the job then if you were small and weak. Packing town was also a Jungle in the sense that the people with more authority or political power acted as predators and preyed on the working people, taking their money unfairly because of the their lack of knowledge on the pitfalls of the New World and their inability to speak and understand the universal language adequately. The unjust and corrupt system kept workers from speaking out when they felt they had been wronged and punished them when they did. As a result of the system, men women and even children were overworked, underpaid and taken advantage of. Working immigrants weren't any better off in American then they were in their homeland, as they soon discovered. Dreams that any people had of America were washed away by the corrupt ways of the system.