The novellas, Train Dreams by Dennis Johnson and Good Will by Jane Smiley, are both infused with elements of the natural world. In both novellas nature is portrayed in different ways. The natural world plays significant roles in both Johnson’s Train Dreams and Smiley’s Good Will; these roles differ between the two novellas. On some points, Train Dreams and Good Will portray nature in the same way, but in others their views contradict. In both novellas nature is depicted as a form of livelihood; Grainier makes a living by conquering nature, and the Millers by working with nature. In Train Dreams nature inspires fear, whereas in Good Will nature equates peace.
Throughout Johnson’s novella, Train Dreams, nature is continually portrayed as something
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In Train Dreams Grainier makes a living by fighting and conquering nature. Grainier makes his income in his younger years by logging, and constructing rail lines; both jobs being forms of subduing nature. Johnson describes Grainier’s logging crew as men who “fought the forest from sunrise until suppertime” (Johnson 15). Grainier fought and conquered the forest while he was a logger to provide for his family and himself. Grainier also worked on several bridges, including the Eleven-mile Cutoff and the Robinson Gorge Bridge. During the time period that Train Dreams is set in, it was impressive to build bridges; a successful bridge was a victory over nature. Nature made transportation arduous with gorges and rivers, but Grainier and kept building rail lines over nature’s protests. In Train Dreams nature is framed in significant manners; it appears as something to fear, and it provides a livelihood.
Nature also plays significant roles in Jane Smiley’s Good Will. Nature’s role in Good Will shares some similarities to its role in Train Dreams. In both novellas nature appears as a way to make a living. However, in Train Dreams Grainer fights and conquers nature to make a living, whereas in Good Will, Bob Miller uses nature to his advantage. He works with nature to produce a livelihood. For Miller nature is his living, pleasure, and
When thinking about nature, Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” John Muir and William Wordsworth both expressed through their writings that nature brought them great joy and satisfaction, as it did Andersen. Each author’s text conveyed very similar messages and represented similar experiences but, the writing style and wording used were significantly different. Wordsworth and Muir express their positive and emotional relationships with nature using diction and imagery.
John Muir and William Wordsworth use diction and tone to define nature as doing a necessary extensile of life. Throughout Muir’s and William’s works of literature they both describe nature as being a necessary element in life that brings happiness, joy, and peace. Both authors use certain writing techniques within their poems and essays to show their love and appreciation of nature. This shows the audience how fond both authors are about nature. That is why Wordsworth and Muir express their codependent relationship with nature using diction and tone.
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
Nature is often used in writing to convey the feelings and emotions of human beings. If used successfully, it can amplify a character’s despair or elation, making clear to the reader what they are experiencing. The use of nature in this capacity allows the reader a better look at the experiences of different characters. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens utilizes nature to effectively convey human emotions. Sydney Carton is a character with many regrets.
He describes how the sun “bakes” the earth, the grasshoppers “consume the parched grass,” and how the prairies are full of “endless desolation.” The word “bakes” exhibits nature’s hostility to its surrounding lands. The grasshoppers eating the “parched grass” convey how on top of the grass slowly starving and dying, it has to deal with the grasshoppers devouring it as well; which emphasizes nature’s unforgivable attitude towards the land. The words “endless desolation” reveal that the land is nothing but despair, and that it is full of endless agony and suffering. This bleak description expresses a miserable tone that deduces the reader’s mind to believe the landscape is barren and
Authors’ Steven Crane and Jack London are known for their stories using naturalism, the struggle between man and nature. Naturalism is like realism, but it explores the forces of nature, heredity, and the environment on human beings, who are faced with the forces of nature. Both “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire” demonstrate how inferior and small humans’ really are to nature. Humans cannot control nature or determine its outcome. In both stories nature is the antagonist constantly challenging the humans’ ability to survive. I chose the topic over naturalistic elements because I enjoyed reading these stories. Both stories have a strong since of naturalism in it and both authors’ are known for naturalistic features existing in their writings. In this paper I will give you more of an insight to what naturalism is and what naturalistic elements are present in the two stories listed above.
...e is familiar with. Prendick ends up searching for nature when he feels he is in trouble. People tend to resort to what they are familiar with when they are dealing with troubles however, if choosing what they are familiar with is not an option, they may resort to nature because it has the illusion of being safe and peaceful. Not only does the theme of nature appear in both of these stories, but just like in real life people are also drawn to nature as a release, as a way to find balance and inner strength. Just look at the documented numbers of visitors each year to our many state parks and it substantiates this. I assert the symbolism surrounding my thesis, and the quotes I sited to support my thesis are some of the impactful events that contribute most to making Victor and Prendick palpable, and gives the reader something to identify with in both characters.
The short story “ To Build a Fire” and the excerpt from “Left for Dead” demonstrates naturalisms in many ways. For example the behavior of each character showed how deadly nature is. The unnamed man in ¨To Build a Fire” attitude towards nature was very ignorant. He didn't acknowledge how cold it was ultimately killing him. Since he didn't pay attention to nature he wasn't as prepared as much as he should have been. He only brought one meal making it very dangerous if he gets lost and needs to find more food. He didnt take the old man's advice and travel with a partner with such cold conditions. Also he could have wore more to keep warm and brought more supplies in case of an emergency. On the other hand Beck Weathers always noticed the dangers of nature. Beck Weathers loves hiking but he also does extensive research on the mountains he climbs. The reason why Beck was able to survive was because how well he knows nature. He was able to survive a storm that came out of nowhere on his own by climbing down to the last camp he was at and burrowing into the ground and using his coat to keep him warm. Beck was very prepared for the forces of nature with his jumpsuit and supplies which
People interact with nature in an overall positive way. “Carry” by Linda Hogan, “Hope for Animals and their World” by Jane Goodall, and “My Life as a Bat” by Margaret Atwood prove this interaction. People might argue that humans interact with nature in a negative way because of “My Life as a Bat” and how it shows that people don’t appreciate creepy bats. However, people interact positively with nature as shown in “Carry,” love and friendship makes up our connection with nature in this poem. “Hope for Animals and their World” shows Lou’s way of keeping burying beetles alive and why they are important, this is a positive connection so the beetles don’t die, and keep our environment clean.
...s as the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way’ painting a very vivid image in the readers mind, the poet find joy and comfort in nature, he explains ‘And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.’ Mary Shelly in ‘Frankenstein’ illustrates the relationship between man and nature through the character Dr Victor Frankenstein. Mary Shelly explores man’s endeavours to dominate nature and has concluded through the actions of Victor that nature is irrepressible and spontaneous and man should not try to control something which is not theirs to control. Instead man should work in coherence with nature, both giving equal respect. Overall, McCarthy, Wordsworth and Shelly all display the importance and prominence of nature to mankind, which we should work alongside nature to improve our quality of life and minimize the negative impact on nature.
Steinbeck develops the theme of power through his depiction of the foreshadowing natural world. Nature remains the only constant in a world of sporadic variables and power is accentuated in its duplicity. Externally nature appears mellifluous, tranquil and unperturbed, internally however lies something far more sinister. The clearing into which George and Lennie stumble may resemble The Garden of Eden, but is in fact a place with dangers lurking at every turn. The rabbits that sit like ‘grey sculptured stones’ ‘hurry noiselessly’ for cover at the sound of footsteps, hinting at the predatory world that will inevitable destroy George and Lennie. Through this, Steinbeck exposes nature as a powerful but vicious symbol of the cruelties of life, as its external beauty establishes a sense of purity which the world cannot sustain.
Nature Some of the most beautiful passages in classic British literature depict a character within the story one usually doesn’t think about. Stories like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Faerie Queene often depict nature as a character within the story itself. The role that nature plays within this literature can be divided into two parts; the setting and the theme. Using beautiful imagery the writers seek to convey to their readers that the activities of nature represent the danger, unknown, and mysterious aspect of life.
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
In his poem, 'Lines Written in the Early Spring,' William Wordsworth gives us insight into his views of the destruction of nature. Using personification, he makes nature seem to be full of life and happy to be living. Yet, man still is destroying what he sees as 'Nature's holy plan'; (8).
Through the ingenious works of poetry the role of nature has imprinted the 18th and 19th century with a mark of significance. The common terminology ‘nature’ has been reflected by our greatest poets in different meanings and understanding; Alexander Pope believed in reason and moderation, whereas Blake and Wordsworth embraced passion and imagination.