The Handsomest Drowned M The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World

1852 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays from the handsomest drowned man in the world

Pranathi Chitta Aditi Mukund Veena Suthendran Meghana Vankina IB-prep English Wilkinson 2 5-6-14 (Make up work- absent) “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” What are the various villagers’ interpretations and interactions with the drowned man? They seem to strain credulity as simple, literal reactions to a dead man. What is the significance of their experience with Esteban? When the villagers see Esteban, they look at him as if he was a king. They treat him as if he were alive and with much care. The villagers use Esteban as a motivation. Since the villagers had no background information on who Esteban really was, they made up his personality; the society created him to be someone to their taste which helped them build their community successfully. Many women view him to be extremely handsome and they begin to sew him attire to wear. What makes the drowned man great (both on a literal level and beyond)? In the literal sense, Esteban is “great” by the nature of his large size, his attractive facial features, and his masculinity. These characteristics evoke a quality of power and sort of leadership trait that the people in the village fall in love with. The drowned man’s greatness extends beyond his death which shows how powerful his exterior plays in the role of what people think of him. How are the villagers affected by their experience with Esteban? Why? The villagers’ lives are permanently affected after interacting with Esteban’s body. After they push his body off the cliff, they collectively decide to make their walls, houses, and village bigger and better so it can be fit for a man like Esteban. This shows how just one man’s presence (or lack of it) can have such an enormous impact on a group of people. Thes... ... middle of paper ... ...st story, the character is revered because of his beauty. What connections can you draw between these two stories and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? In both the stories, and in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein the main component to the story is the outsider. The outsider in all three of these works is usually seen as different from the rest of society. The way the outsider is perceived by the society is one of fascination. Society is hesitant of the outsider, and treats him as an outsider rather than part of their in-group. Another key aspect showcased in all three of the works is the theme of beauty or physical appearance. The villagers in all of the stories have placed great regard and value on the attractiveness of their own people. However when a new outsider person is presented to them they take into account the appearance before making any judgments of character.

Show More
Related

  • House of the Spirits

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the principal male character. During the course of the novel, Trueba increases his power in the world as he progresses in status from a conservative landowner to a powerful senator. He is tyrannical, treating his family members and the tenants on his family hacienda, Tres Marías, like subjects rather than intimate community. The basis for most of Trueba's actions is the desire for power, control, and wealth, and he pursues these things at any cost, disregarding his emotional decline and the effects of his actions upon the people in his life.

    Read More

  • The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson and Eudora Welty’s A Worn Path

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    The next theme used by the author to inspire a feeling of despair in this story is the randomness of persecution. By making the villagers draw these slips of paper once a year would provoke a feeling of hopelessness. Because they know that no matter what they do one day they may be subjected to this brutal death. And it woul...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Familial Influence In Junot Diaz's Drown?

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    Familial influence can have a great impact on a protagonists’ life decisions and future, whether it be a lack of paternal guidance or cultural expectations. This can be seen in the life of Yunior, the protagonist in Junot Diaz’s Drown. Yunior immigrated to the USA from the Dominican Republic when he was little shortly after, his dad left the family and went to live with another woman. This lead to Yunior’s mom becoming a single mother and the breadwinner of the house. The focus of this essay will be on the chapter in the book called “Drown”. In the chapter Yunior remembers his adolescence with his friend Beto and their life in their Dominican dominated neighborhood. The chapter showcases the financial struggles of Yunior and his family along

    Read More

  • Fiesta 1980

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    Junot Diaz's short story “Fiesta, 1980” gives an insight into the everyday life of a lower class family, a family with a troubled young boy, Yunior and a strong, abusive father, Papi. The conflict, man vs. man is one of the central themes of this story. This theme is portrayed through the conflicts between Papi and his son. Papi asserts his dominance in what can be considered unfashionable ways. Unconsciously, every action Papi makes yields negative reactions for his family. Yunior simply yearns for a tighter bond with his father, but knows-just like many other members of his family-Papi’s outlandish ways hurts him. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the conflicts between Papi and himself-along with conflicts between Yunior and himself-affect not only them as individuals, but their family as a whole.

    Read More

  • Memoirs Of Reverend Hale.

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    I had been in the village for all but a week when I realized there was something... wrong. There seemed to be an underlying atmosphere of fear and animosity. Of course, with my wide-eyed, innocent thinking at the time, I assumed the presence of Satan had damaged the townspeople 's trust of one another. Again, I blissfully accepted this, and I was wrong.

    Read More

  • The Juxtaposition Of Death In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is scientifically proven, that people prefer attractive people. Appearances help millions of good-looking men and women across the country advance in their careers, get free drinks, and receive more opportunities. But, Mary Shelley juxtaposes the physical deterioration of Victor as her novel, Frankenstein, progresses and the creature’s ugly physical appearance and the motif of clouds juxtapose with birds to argue that appearances may be deceptive. She argues through the juxtaposition of Victor and the creation’s death that ultimately it is through death, one of nature’s devices, that allows us to see the character of a person. Shelley juxtaposes the physical deterioration of Victor with the ugly appearance of the creation to prove that time will reveal a person’s character.

    Read More

  • Monster and mary Shelley

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...uter appearance reflects one’s inner self, but only because society reacts accordingly, making beautiful people able to do good and ugly people able to do bad. Thus, in the debate over nature versus nurture, nurture clearly holds an emphasis. Frankenstein mindfully toys with the idea that men, women and monsters are all brought into this world as a blank-slate, slowly shaped according to experiences. Eerily enough, vengeance is what gives the monster a rather twisted purpose for existing. Victor is no Prometheus, and the unfortunate result of his ambition shows that people are rulers of our own destinies.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Last To See Them Alive By Truman Capote

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    We see a prosperous environment with “plentiful natural-gas resources,” “good-looking establishment[s],” and “born gamblers.” The writer shocks the reader by this severely dichotomous picture. Through that, the audience is kept “on their toes” eagerly waiting for any acute surprises this village might bring. This contrast serves the writer’s purpose by highlighting the differences of both the insider and outsider perspectives. Those same ‘lazy’ villagers are now successful businessmen, those banks that were almost falling to the ground are now flourishing with great amounts of wealth, and those institutions that were crumbling down to the floor are now top-tier schools. The change in perspective also highlights that the villagers are modest, close-knit, and isolationists. The like their village the way it is and so they shun away any outside intervention. They are also smart and thoughtful. Being in the midst of the Great Depression in the early 30s, they have kept this low-profile of seeming poverty and disgrace. They have relied entirely on their own resources to get out of the financial crisis (implying that they had suffered from it in the first place). The writer through showing this contrast is confessing a misstep that he committed when he first came to the village. A mistake that we, as his readers, were also made to commit: the faux pas of assumption. Capote when he first came down to the village was fooled by the concealing ornament. His whole two first paragraphs are nothing but a testament to the villagers’ ability: a pat on the back, a congratulation, an acknowledgment... The villagers are, in the writer’s eyes, masters of disguise. To report on their art as genuinely and as accurately as possible, he took us through a drawn-out description of both the outside and inside perspectives. It was all for the goal of giving their masterpiece the justice it

    Read More

  • Who Is the Real Monster in Frankenstein?

    1708 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...most readers tend to sympathize with Frankenstein because of the way in which he is mentally and physically harmed by his creation. However, one must also realize that while Frankenstein is a victim in the novel, he also exhibits features that make him a monster. These monstrous qualities, however, stem from his passion for science and his desire to create life. Not only does the reader criticize and pity Frankenstein, but the reader also empathizes with Frankenstein’s creation. He was unjustly shunned by society because of his physical appearance. On the other hand, the reader realizes that like Frankenstein, the creation can not be sympathized with entirely. He too exhibits traits that make him appear villainous. It is the duality of these two characters that make Frankenstein and his creation two of the most appealing characters of the nineteenth century.

    Read More

  • Mary Shelley Challenges Society in Frankenstein

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e patriarchy, seeking technology without morality and judgment primarily on appearance, Shelley encourages her reader to reassess the value structures within society, underpinning the way they live, and consider an alternative way of life. Thus, Frankenstein certainly must be considered more than a simple story; it is an important vehicle to present the writer’s themes.

    Read More

  • The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the story, Jackson shows, with the use of symbolism and foreshadowing, that blindly following a tradition can have horrific consequences. All the objects connect with the ending. Since the villagers unquestionably accepted the tradition, they have allowed murder to become embedded in their town.

    Read More

  • The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    The magnificent image of Esteban changed the life of this village. No one could imagine on that Sunday morning while the children were playing that what they would discover would change the lives of everyone forever.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein expresses human nature specifically through the character of the “Creature” and his development. The Creature has an opportunity to explore his surroundings, and in doing so he learns that human nature is to run away from something so catastrophic in looks. The Creature discovers that he must limit himself in what he does due to the response of humans because of his deformities. I feel that Mary Shelley tries to depict human nature to running away from the abnormal, which results in alienation of the “abnormal.” Even today, people have a prejudice against someone or something that is abnormal, and these people will act differently towards this abnormality that is put in front of them. In the novel, Shelley seems to suggest a conception of humanity that is deeply influe...

    Read More

  • The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World and The Drowned Giant

    2567 Words  | 6 Pages

    middle of paper ... ..., the village people even took him as an absolute alive being: "so that he could come back if he wished and whenever he wished". The drowned giant was treated like God as he made the village changed from now on: "wider doors, higher ceilings, stronger floors", etc, etc. Referring back to the theme, the drowned giant in Marquez's story brought a hundred percent change, as he gave the people the power to imagine and motivation. He deserved to be treated as God as society needs something to have faith in, otherwise, nothing will motivate, inspire and give hope. Here, 'Esteban', "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" brought change faith and hope to the once simple, small and poor society.

    Read More

  • The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

    2026 Words  | 5 Pages

    Furthermore, understanding the fact of how the villagers in that village practiced and participated in such a barbaric ritual and archaic event were not accepted by people. In addition, people who read the story commented that the modest people of the Midwest are superstitious and backward. Here, Jackson conveyed successfully with her subtle writing style that something is about to happen. She also used a third person point of view when writing this short story. The third person point of view permitted the author to keep the outcome of the story an exposure. This therefore led to the reader to consider everything is well but actually there is something wrong somewhere. Furthermore, what could be seen from the story is people were different compared to present, there is a huge difference in cultural practices. Therefore the actions of the story go in the opposite direction of people’s opinion in the present in terms of value of life, violence and the development of respect in a family.

    Read More

More about The Handsomest Drowned M The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World

Open Document