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The theme of free will vs fate
Fate versus free will literature
Fate in literature
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To begin with, the university student from the short story, “The Music of Erich Zann” is the second character which I would like to bring light to, as the curiosity in this individuals straying mind, in fact allowed him to gain an improved reflection on life, and the many individuals which encompass society. Initially, this student merely decided to enjoin living in the residence, Rue d’Ausseil, “for it was within a half-hour’s walk of the university and was distinguished by peculiarities which could hardly be forgotten by anyone who had been there”, evidently exemplifying the idea that there were no hopes of this character to be able to meet with someone new, or begin to endure fond over this building (Lovecraft 51) Despite this fact, through the straying mind of the university student, he began to ponder over his experiences, as “on the night [he] arrived, [he] heard strange music from the peaked garret overhead”, influencing him to later, “the next day ask old Blandot about it. …show more content…
(Lovecraft, 52) Additionally, the university student began to further his curiosity and straying mind as “none of [Eric Zann’s] harmonies had any relation to music [the student] heard before … [yet] the longer [he] listened, the more [he] was fascinated”, influencing him to question his own senses, and recognition of what is reality, passed his own understandings and beliefs. (Lovecraft 53) In fact, “one night, as he was returning from his work, [the university student] intercepted Zann in the hallway and told him that [he] would like to know him and be with him when he played”, evidently depicting the confidence and urge this character inhibited within him to learn more of what the world had to offer him, despite it being outside of his own comfort zones, as his mind was too forcibly strayed away by his initial purpose, to merely live at the residence and leave for school, without care for the actions surrounding
If the suburbs are a representation of Plato’s Cave, the “restless dreams of youth” are the small glimmers of light from the cave’s exit—the longing for something more. In Fahrenheit 451, for example, Clarisse brought Montag to the realization that he was dissatisfied with the emptiness of his life. She showed him the light of the cave’s exit and was the source of many of his “restless dreams.” As a result, he began searching to fulfill his desire for authenticity and connectedness, and consequently became a fugitive—a disturber of society’s order.
...eeps through the pages as Odd relays his thoughts for the book. This gives us a glimpse at Odd and the influences in his life. While not all of them are listed here, the ones that are, play a pivotal role in his life; something he seems to become more and more aware as this story goes on. It’s as if Koontz is trying to tell us a little about ourselves, that while we have known influences like our family, there are many more out there that help shape us into the beings that we are. Humans are a product of influences, but since no one human is influenced by exactly the same things then how are we to know what others want, need or feel. This story is a beautiful adaptation of that very concept with a little bit of mystical tossed in to keep it and the story interesting.
Every story, every book, every legend, every belief and every poem have a reason and a background that creates them. Some might be based on historical events, some might be based on every culture´s beliefs, and some others might be based on personal experiences of the authors. When a person writes a literary piece, that person is looking for a way to express her opinion or her feelings about a certain situation. A good example is the poem “Southern Mansion” by Arna Bonptems. The main intention of “Southern Mansion” could have been to complain, or to stand against the discrimination and exploitation of black people throughout history. However, as one starts to read, to avoid thinking about unnatural beings wandering around the scene that is depicted is impossible. The poem “Southern Mansion” represents a vivid image of a typical ghost story which includes the traditional element of the haunted house. This image is recreated by the two prominent and contradictory elements constantly presented through the poem: sound and silence. The elements are used in two leading ways, each one separate to represent sound or silence, and together to represent sound and silence at the same time. The poem mixes the two elements in order to create the spooky environment.
When the “decently dressed” Lengel tried to tell the girls to be “decently dressed” because the girls were wearing “bathing suits”, the girls first argued they “are decent” and left because the girls thought what they were doing was not wrong since they have different perspective than Lengel. The result of feeling empathy for the younger generation in "Railway Club Blues" is that the older generation saw the younger generation as themselves and the protagonist mentioned that teens were the “Strange children of the simple punks we were”. Also, despite of the younger teens “clothes are odd [and] their attitudes obscure”, the protagonist saw their faces that gave him “a kindred memory” of how the teens “repeat the ancient dance”. Ultimately, because the two generations were able to enjoyed a small jazz performance together, the protagonist felt “all cardboard boundaries are erased.”. Both authors used contrast to show the results of feeling empathy for the younger generation, and in “A&P”, the result of Lengel feeling empathy for the teenagers is that he was rejected by the youth due to their contrasting perspectives. When the protagonist from “Railway Club Blues” felt the “boundaries are erased” when the music began to play, this demonstrates how the the protagonist felt how everyone shared the same feelings and empathize the teens despite
In “Nevsky Prospect,” the third person narrator pulls double duty by describing two stories that parallel each other in time. After describing the seemingly harmless bustling avenue, mustaches, and clothing of Nevsky Prospect, the narrator happens to come upon two different characters: an artist and an officer. First, he follows the artist and right away, the narrator seems to be absorbed in the world of the artist. We see this occur when it is often hard to tell when the artist is dreaming or awake. The narrat...
Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe are gothic writers who share many similarities in their stories. Both authors write about characters who live in their own and try to escape the real world around them. In Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s experiment” four participants attempt to escape reality by drinking from a fountain of youth in order to return to make themselves younger. In Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”, Prince Prospero tries to escape the red death, a disease that is ravaging his city, by hiding in his own castellated abbey. The characters in the stories both attempt to avoid death and the inevitable, by hiding behind their barriers, but no matter what they try to do reality catches up to them and they succumb to what they originally try to avoid. In both stories, the protagonists hide behind barriers made by themselves, attempt to conquer death, and eventually give in to death.
Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”
Allusions, by definition, are literary devices with casual references to other people, places, or events in history and literature; however, Swiss author Friedrich Durrenmatt relies upon the classical device not only to interconnect stories but also to support his life views in the plot of the play The Visit. The play follows the townspeople of Güllen, a dilapidated German village, and their succumbance to temptation as billionairess Claire Zachanassian returns and offers one billion dollars for salvation. However, she demands the death of the town’s most popular man--and her former lover--Alfred Ill, for denying a paternity case when she was seventeen. Originally apathetic, the town slowly grows in “debt and prosperity” (49), causing Ill to panic and ask authoritative figures to arrest Claire and prevent his death, to no avail. Reflecting his views of infinitely changing life, Durrenmatt, born in 1921 in Switzerland, created The Visit to portray the central theme that money would corrupt even the most morally strongest, in the case of the Teacher. Classical literary strategies prove essential not to extent of driving the plot, but to allow a deeper understanding of the individual within a society. In The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt, the author utilizes allusions to reinforce the characterization of challenging fate; perversion of religious motifs juxtapose the increasing corruption and happiness of the town.
His characters have a goal, but experience turmoil prohibiting them from reaching this goal, and ultimately realize their existence is meaningless. Lovecraft’s characters cannot find solace in these thoughts, since the horror they face is an index of meaninglessness of the human condition. (Ralickas) Another example of meaningless characters are the cultists who so desperately try to awaken Cthulhu, but instead was liberated by curious sailors who didn’t have anything to do with the cult. This also affirms the author’s beliefs as the cultist didn’t contribute to their ultimate goal and all their efforts were futile. At the short stories end the main character comes to realize to late that he is a target for death and nothing he can can stop this. The main character, however realizes his existence is unimportant and would rather face death than face the vile creature Cthulhu is. The horror felt by the protagonist arises out of the fear of knowing the unsuspected truth hiding just beneath the surface of things knowing there will only be a bitter end.
Edgar Allan Poe tries to make us understand that by denying what is odd, our own life can get us through actions, phases or extravagant journeys which are even oddest, making us feel almost as an idiotic piece of meat.
Those who were not well off in this Dweller city were barred entry. Hearing the sounds of profanity and witnessing brawls were common occurrence there. The subsequent visits to the theater was also the case as well, except the plays offered were the most decadent depictions–they cannot be considered works of art by any degree. The library was nothing more than a collected repository of occult knowledge, only to be accessible by those who were worthy enough to enter, as with the other two places they had visited; much to the Mongoose’s chagrin, of
2. Growth of Consciousness and Development of Tension 2.1. Initial Isolation Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem starts out with the total seclusion of the beautiful, young Lady of Shalott surrounded by '…four grey walls, and four grey towers…';. Tennyson, line 15 -. She is largely unaware of the world outside and of her own existence as a woman, only being able to see shadows of reality, which are reflected by her magic. crystal mirror and worked into her web. At this point of time, it is unknown to the reader whether the Lady of Shalott is forced to be in this situation or chose to live this life of isolation.
The authors' relations to us on the characters' places in society help us to relate to and comprehend their actions. If Meursault hadn't been so detached from society, Noboru so discontented with society, and Medea so vengeful toward society, we wouldn't have half of the justification needed to understand the murders that took place in the works. Given the presented material about conformity, I conclude that the stories' plots indeed grow around the unique attributes of the non-conformers, and as result, spark the reader's imagination to the fullest.
During the whole of our past mankind has developed art, music and literature as part of our culture. Therefore literature has always been and will always be part of the human culture. As such it developed many genres with many subgenres in which specific authors could, and still can, thrive. One of the oldest genres in literature is the genre of horror literature, more specific weird literature, in which authors like Horace Walpole, Edgar Allan Poe and many others are considered to be influential to its core. Arguably, one of those is H.P. Lovecraft who not only influenced the literary genre of horror, but also parts of modern pop culture with his creations like “Cthulhu” or the “Necronomicon”. This essay is going to be about H.P. Lovecraft
...rought to life in a fable. The Three Hermits span time in understanding the journey to the meaning of life. To this day, the puzzle never has been solved and may never be solved. In the immortal words of Tolstoy, “If you are content with the old world, try to preserve it, it is very sick and cannot hold out much longer. But if you cannot bear to live in everlasting dissonance between your beliefs and your life, thinking one thing and doing another, get out of the medieval witted sepulchers, and face your fears. I know very well it is not easy” (The Anarchist Library, p.1).