Within the short story “The Interlopers” author Saki has two characters, Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym, which are mortal enemies with a massive grudge, become trapped under a tree together in a life or death situation. After the tree falls, the men keeping quarrelling, telling each other about one man's hope that the other will die instead of just helping each other. Also, if the men would’ve grown up, and forgave each other earlier in their life instead of feeding their desire to kill one another, they wouldn’t have been out in the woods in the first place. Finally, at the end of the story, Ulrich understands that the men need to forgive each other to have a hope to survive, and end up sharing a drink and promising that once one's Ho, what a jest, Ulrich von Gradwitz snarled in his own stolen forest. That’s real justice for you.”’ (Saki, 86). Still, after both men are startled and trapped in a near death situation, they are still out for blood, wishing death upon the other man. For generations the feud has not died, but worsened. From toddler age to adulthood, the men have pictured nothing but death. If they would have been more forgiving, the men wouldn’t be out in the woods. Finally, on page 86, Ulrich asks Georg, “‘Could you reach this flask if I threw it over to you?”’ (Saki, 86). Although Georg refuses, Ulrich keeps trying to repair a never existent relationship. On page 87, Georg finally comes to his senses, “‘Ulrich von Gradwitz, I will be your friend.”’ The men share a drink, and make amends. However, the men were too late. At the end of the story, the men see figures in the distance. On page 88, Georg ends the story with the single word, ‘“Wolves.” (Saki, 88). Although wolves eat the men, they were given hope and repaired a generations old feud all because one man had the courage to forgive his
This ‘beast’, the protagonist of the story, fights an internal struggle, of which is a part of the Hero’s Journey. Grendel is unable to decide what to make of himself and of the world surrounding him. He has only ever known the world as wild and mechanical, yet he is charmed by the artistic brilliance of the Shaper’s words. Grendel ultimately meets a brutal yet peaceful demise. Standing on the face of the same cliff he found himself in the beginning of the novel, surrounded by mindless eyes, he states, “Poor Grendel’s had an accident. So may you all.” (Grendel, John Gardner, pg.174) Previous to this, he questions if what he is feeling is joy. The reader is lead to believe that Grendel must feel nothing but peace. This, is the concluding moment of his
An element of literature in The Interlopers is situational irony. Irony is the contrast between an actual outcome and what the reader or the characters expect. Irony is important to this story because a major family conflict would have ended, but an event occurred and changed that. Irony is in the interlopers when the wolves came and ate the men. When Georg says, “I will be your friend” it was major irony (Saki 309). The whole story the reader thought that the two men would surely kill each other when they met, but they made up. Also, when Ulrich said “Wolves” there is a turning point fueled by Irony (Saki 310).
of the wolves and finds that they are more than the savage and merciless hunters
When used effectively, suspense, in short stories, is used as a way to make the reader anticipate the outcome to a problem. The short story, “The Interlopers” by Saki uses multiple examples of situational irony effectively, which is used to create a great deal of suspense. These examples of situational irony are greatly emphasized through the use of symbolism and imagery. Thus, Saki uses irony that is expressed through the symbolism of the fallen tree, and the imagery of the wilderness, in order to effectively build up suspense to make the reader anticipate what happens next in the story.
After continuing on and on about what could come from the friendship, Georg admits, “Ulrich von Gradwitz, I will be your friend,” (Saki.) After the two declared their friendship is when they began to shout for help and the wolves come and possibly end their short-lived
Unlike the prior story, in "Friends," fear helps to bring Jenson and Struck closer together. They are both afraid of returning from the war dismembered in some fashion. To prevent this, the men form a agreement that if one of them is hurt in such a way, that the other would kill them. Because of this pact, the men are united with a common trust. This helps to subside the fear and allow them to not be as scared of the war.
Strangers in the Land, written by John Higham, is a book about the history of nativism and immigration policy. This book roughly takes place through the years of 1865-1920. World War I happened during this time and that had a significant effect on American’s views on immigration. This was a time of economic crisis and chaos in America.
Charles Darton and Helena had met a long time ago and had felt in love
The story examines fate and code of conduct of the Misfit and the grandmother. The story is thought provoking, disturbing and challenges one's perspective of what one may consider right or wrong. There is also a degree of selfishness behaviors that raises questions about the characters ability to show empathy freely despite their disposition. The Misfit affirmed his code of conduct by an injustice, he is not able to recall the crime and there is no paperwork to substantiate the crime. He said, "I call myself The Misfit, because I can't make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment" (O'Connor, 1953). Therefore, his moral code is not about what is right or wrong, but what he perceived as gratifying. The question is, whether
lies in the depth of the friendship they form. It begins in opposition (Tablet II: 96-108),
In “A Brief Encounter with the Enemy” by Said Sayrafiezadeh, Luke, a pessimistic soldier, walks down memory lane as he travels the path to get to the hill during his last recon. He remembers appreciating nature, encountering and writing to Becky, the first time he’d shot a gun, and Christmas leave. Luke identifies the moment when he realizes that he had joined the army for the wrong reason, after crossing the bridge his team built in order to cross the valley, and at the same time dreading the return to his former office job. Boredom and nothingness destroy him mentally as he waits for enemies to appear. When the enemies finally appear, he shoots them down and goes home the next day. Sayrafiezadeh proposes that expectations don’t always equate
During World War II and the Holocaust, there was not only mistrust for the government but there was also plenty of mistrust for prior friends and neighbors. In the graphic novel, “Maus (Volume I and II) Vladek Spiegelman makes it very clear to his son, Artie, that one cannot count on their friends. He makes the point that in time of hardship, friends will abandon you quite quickly. Vladek says, “Friends? Your friends…if you lock them together in a room with no food for a week…then you could see what it is, friends! (Maus, VI. 5-6). Throughout the novel, we see examples of this gloomy point proven repeatedly.
We meet strangers everywhere we go. They come from all walks of life. We can choose to ignore them or to talk to them. I have judged people based on the way they walk, talk, dress or the way they approached me. These judgments tend to stick with me even if I find out who they really are. I don 't think it is right to get judgmental when I first approach a person. I feel so bad when I find out who they really are isn 't who I thought they were. It just seems to happen so naturally. I guess it is just human nature. I can relate this to my senior high school days. Most of the judgments I made about people never helped me because it got me into bad company. In a short story ‘Strangers’, a stranger hurt and lied to Toni Morrison about who she was. She was really hurt by the stranger because she had misjudged her about who she was. She did not expect a woman, who looked so humble, would do such a thing. I can relate to her story because I also misjudged someone and ended up getting hurt.
For the characters in Angela Carter's “The Company of Wolves,” danger lurks in the the grey areas, the ambiguous spaces between opposites. The plethora of socially constructed binaries—male and female, passive and active, innocence and maturity, civilization and wilderness, man and wolf—have the ability to be harmful and restrictive, but perhaps more worryingly, they create an ill-defined middle ground between where the rules are vague and fluid, which allows for dishonesty and deception, and Carter foregrounds the resultant proliferation of untruths as the real peril. One vehicle for clear and honest communication, however, is the narrator's changing characterization of the
Dangerous Minds is an 1995 film that is based on the autobiography My Posse Don 't Do Homework by LouAnne Johnson. Ms. Johnson was once a U.S. Marine, who around the 1989 became a teacher in Carlmont High School in Belmont, California. She was very eager to teach, but was stunned by the quick response of an open position. However, she later found out the reason for the opening. On her first day she was greeted by disrespectful students who called her names and where in their own worlds, not paying attention to her. Most of her students were African Americans and Latinos who came from East Palo Alto; a city with racial segregated and high on poverty. Ms. Johnson later learned that with an attention grabbers and some patients her students are