Until They Bring The Streetcars Back is a novel written by Stanley Gordon West. The story takes place in 1949 here in Minnesota St. Paul. The main character’s name is Calvin and the story revolves around him and the people he encounters. It is a sad and complexed story. It allows the readers to relate what is happening in the book and connect it to real life situation. So far there quite few conflicts that rose up in the in the book and although they are not solved yet, they bring some excitement and eagerness to the readers. One of the main conflict in the book is that a person Calvin knows named Gretchen is going through physical and sexual abuse by her father and Calvin has to figure out a way to help her. After realizing helping someone …show more content…
comes with sacrifice, he says, “...what my dad did, risking his job and all, convinced me that i had to do the same for Gretchen, no matter what, that i couldn't let her suffer anymore”(118). In the book there is one dog that is very abused by his owner and Calvin’s father informs Human Society even though by doing that he might lose his job. By seeing this, Calvin decides to help Gretchen no matter what, even though he might get himself in danger. The only friend Gretchen has told her secret is to Calvin and it is up to him to rescue her just like his father rescued the dog from the abusive owner. The setting of the book does not entirely affect the novel but it has some influences.
The story takes place in 1949 at a time where streetcar were starting to get replaced by Buses cars. This changing period and culture had influences on the book. Throughout the book, Calvin describes the grievances of his father about the streetcar disappearing. As a result Calvin’s father despises buses and cars to death. “They’re cutting eighty cars off the lines immediately and everyone's on probation. There’s going to be no more streetcars. No more streetcars”(108). This shows the reason he hates buses and cars is because the appearance of new transportation is taking away the job. At the time there are many people who complained because it was affecting them financially. Also St. Paul had the nicest street car at the time and it came as a shock to some when they realized it will soon not be used. On the other hand, the time was not a good period for a person like Gretchen. Child protection was not good as nowadays and as a result both Gretchen and her sister suffer immensely. While talking to a police officer Calvin says, “‘Her sister told the police once, but they didn’t believe her. Then he did something real bad to her, and she went crazy, ended up in an insane asylum”’(129). This shows that police department were not sensitive when it comes to child abuse at that time of period. Their non cooperativeness or neglect to help a child under parental abuse really affected people like Gretchen and her sister. Gretchen’s sister informed the police to help her but her father figured she contacted them and he did unspeakable things to her. Gretchen fears the same thing might happen to her because the police will not believe her. To certain extent, the setting does play major role in the book. One of the emerging theme in the book is doing good for others and the author shows there is no cultural, time or place restriction to do good for someone. No matter the situation, we
should always strive to be the best of ourselves. It is already stated that the main conflict is Gretchen’s situation and how Calvin is trying to help her. One thing Calvin said was never to give up on Gretchen and this shows that no matter what, he is going to free Gretchen. It can be predict that, he will do it by himself without letting the police know because it is more dangerous for Gretchen and Calvin if the policies are involved. In her dreams, Gretchen once saw Calvin running over her father and killing him and she was happy when she woke up from her dream. This foreshadows that Calvin is the one that will free her from her father. Although he might not go to the extent of killing somebody, he would do still what is necessary to free her. Calvin is the only person that knows Gretchen’s problem and he is the only one capable of helping her. If he does not help her, Gretchen will go crazy and Calvin can not live with that amount of guilt on his shoulders. Since this kind of problems are hard to be solved by a teenger alone, Calvin is going to Sacrifice somthing in order to help Gretchen. Freedom comes with a price and Calvin has to pay that price. The book starts with Calvin locked up in jail and it is still not revealed why but it most likely connect with his attempt to help Gretchen. Work Cited West, Stanley, Until They Bring The StreetCars Back, Shakopee, Lexington Marshall Publishing, 1997
Until They Bring The Streetcars Back is a novel written by Stanley Gordon west. The book centers around a high schooler named Calvin Grant, who faces all sorts of obstacles, during his senior year at Central High School. Despite the fact that Cal is a jock, and a popular kid, he does everything in his power to help Gretchen Lutterman, the weird girl at their school, escape her abusive father, and remain her sanity. The author enhances the story by using different elements of literature. He uses characters to describe their physical features, personality, inner thoughts, and explains the reasoning behind their actions. He describes the multiple themes, that are the center/ many focus throughout the book. He also created many conflicts in the
In Stanley Gordon West's Until They Bring the Streetcars Back, Cal Gant, an eighteen-year-old high school senior that's going through a world of promises, cover-ups, love, friendship, family drama and a struggle to expose the horrible truths without exposing himself. Set in 1949 and 1950 in St. Paul, MN, Cal's high school innocence is broken by a revelation from a school peer Gretchen Lutterman. There are three elements that found interesting and character, conflict, theme were the ones that I chose.
Charles Joseph, C.J, was Jesymns cousin and dated Charine, Jesmyns little sister. C.J dealt with living between his mothers and fathers like Jesmyn. C.J also dealt with the constant racism that surround them. As mentioned on page 106, “…because that attracted something we called heat: police attention. While that might not matter in neighborhoods that were mostly White and working-class, in our Black working-class community, it mattered”. This explains how Black people in the south were treated and how later it affected them. I believe the main topic of this division deals with racism which ultimately leads to death because of the pressures Black men and women felt. As stated on page 121, “Maybe he looked at those who's still lived and those who’d died and didn't see much difference between he two; pinioned beneath poverty and history and racism, we were all dying inside”. In other words, this describes how C.J felt, as if even though he is not dead he might as well be as he's under immense pressures of poverty and racism. The death of C.J occurred because no precautions were set in place infant of train tracks so while driving, he got struck and killed. As stated on page 125, “There were flashing lights and bells that should have wanted of the passing train, but they did not consistently work, and because it was located at a crossing out in the country in a mainly Black area, no one really cared
Beatings, teasing, and insanity are a few examples of what Gretchen is going through as well as what is holding Gretchen back from having a happy life. All of the examples come as a result from her father. Gretchen's father has a sheer way of having Gretchen act and live. Gretchen's sister, Helga, went insane as a result of her father which makes Gretchen fear for her life as she cannot reach out for help because is she does, then she says, multiple times throughout the book, that her father will severely hurt or possibly kill her. "She pulled her dress slightly above her knee and showed me an ugly looking bruise. 'He wouldn't let me out because the marks would show'" (West 92). Finally, Gretchen's mom is scared of Gretchen's father as well. She doesn't try to help any of her children, she lies about what her husband does to their children. Gretchen explained this to Cal, "Helga tried to tell on him. It was her word against his. My mother lied and told them Helga just made up the story. I wish my mother had told the truth, but she's too scared. If she was stronger, she could stop him, tell on him" (West
...ism and segregation, it is what will keep any society form reaching is maximum potential. But fear was not evident in those who challenged the issue, Betty Jo, Street, Jerry, and Miss Carrie. They challenged the issue in different ways, whether it was by just simply living or it was a calculated attempt to change the perspective of a individual. McLurin illustrated the views of the reality that was segregation in the South, in the town of Wade, and how it was a sort of status quo for the town. The memories of his childhood and young adulthood, the people he encountered, those individuals each held a key in how they impacted the thoughts that the young McLurin had about this issue, and maybe helping unlock a way to challenge the issue and make the future generation aware of the dark stain on society, allowing for more growth and maximum potential in the coming years.
Her description is full of emotional words and phrases which enable the reader to feel indignant about the case’s verdict-Nelson is convicted of vehicular homicide following the death of her son. Malchik emphasizes that “[T]he driver who had two previous hit-and-run convictions pleaded guilty,” but the mother who lost her son is forced to be jailed for a longer time. This part of description shapes a poor image of a mother who in order to feed her tired and hungry children, has no choice but to jaywalk. The author explains to the reader that Nelson chooses to jaywalk not because she is crazy, but because of her mother’s identity as well as lack of safer road for them. The purpose of the author is touching readers to sympathize with the mother, assuaging the mother’s guilt, and proving that walking should be human beings’ freedom and liberty. Adding to this idea are words and phrases such as, “instinctive,” “injustice,” “the narrowest,” “lost right,” “Orwellian fashion,” “more treacherous,” “laziness,” and “scorn” (Malchik). All of these emotional words are awkward for Americans. As the author indicates, “[T]he ability to walk is a struggle, a fight, a risk”, which can help to arouse readers’ awareness of protecting their lost opportunities and rights. Apart from these, at the end of the article, Malchik uses several imperative sentences like: “Open your door; go for a walk; feel the spring”, to strengthen the tone. It is also an effective way to attract readers and create strong emotional
Throughout this novel, the reader is left with the task of putting the pieces together to a highly complex puzzle. While solving this puzzle, the reader learns valuable information about Mrs. Ross’s harsh past, which greatly influences her entire life. The root of Mrs. Ross’s troubles ultimately lies within the shocking death of “Mrs. Ross’s only brother, a boy called Monty Miles who had been killed while walking home…A wayward trolley left the tracks to strike him down” ( ). According to the narrator “The mourning had gone on for years”() and this event truly traumatized Mrs. Ross as “the world was full of trolley cars and Mrs. Ross ...
Sethe describes her actions to Paul D, arguing, “I took and put my babies where they’d be safe” (Morrison 164). Here Sethe reveals the extent to which she will go to protect her children from the horrors of slavery; she is willing to personally kill each of them if it means slavery will not have them. Her love for her family and personal experiences as a victim of slavery have caused her to go to cruel lengths to ensure her children’s safety. Sethe does not wish for her children a life under slavery’s influence, which she herself suffered from at the hands of the schoolteacher and his nephews. Although Sethe and Schoolteacher come from opposite spectrums of slavery as well as race, they both are willing to achieve their ends through brutal actions.
Identity in Contemporary American Drama – Between Reality and Illusion Tennessee Williams was one of the most important playwrights in the American literature. He is famous for works such as “The Glass Menagerie” (1944), “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1947) or “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)”. As John S. Bak claims: “Streetcar remains the most intriguing and the most frequently analyzed of Williams’ plays.” In the lines that follow I am going to analyze how the identity of Blanche DuBois, the female character of his play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, is shaped. Firstly, we learn from an interview he gave, that the character of Blanche has been inspired from a member of his family.
she was told "to take a streetcar named Desire, and then to transfer to one
During early times men were regarded as superior to women. In Tennessee William’s play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Stanley Kowalski, the work’s imposing antagonist, thrives on power. He embodies the traits found in a world of old fashioned ideals where men were meant to be dominant figures. This is evident in Stanley’s relationship with Stella, his behavior towards Blanche, and his attitude towards women in general. He enjoys judging women and playing with their feelings as well.
Our lives are consumed by the past. The past of what we once did, what we once accomplished, and what we once could call our own. As we look back on these past memories we seldom realize the impact these events have on our present lives. The loss of a past love mars are future relationships, the loss of our family influences the choices we make today, and the loss of our dignity can confuse the life we live in the present. These losses or deaths require healing from which you need to recover. The effects of not healing can cause devastation as apparent in the play A Streetcar Named Desire. The theme of A Streetcar Named Desire is death. We encounter this idea first with the death of Blanche and Stella's relationship as sisters. Blanche and Stella had a life together once in Bel Reve and when Stella decided to move on in her life and leave, Blanche never could forgive her. This apparent in the scene when Blanche first arrives in New Orleans and meets Stella at the bowling alley. Stella and Blanche sit down for a drink and we immediately see Blanche's animosity towards Stella. Blanche blames Stella for abandoning her at Bel Reve, leaving Blanche to handle the division of the estate after their parents die. As result of Stella's lack of support, we see Blanche become dependent on alcohol and lose her mental state. Blanche comes to be a a terrible reck through out the play as we learn of the details of her life at Bel Reve. Her loss of the entire estate and her struggle to get through an affair with a seventeen year old student. This baggage that Blanche carries on her shoulders nips at Stella through out eventually causing the demise of her relationship. As Blanche's visit goes on with Stella, the nips become too great and with the help of Stanley, Stella has Blanche committed to a mental hospital, thus symbolizing the death of the realtionship they once had. The next death we encounter in the film is the death of Stella and Stanley's marriage. Our first view of Stanley is of an eccentric man, but decent husband who cares deeply for his wife. However, as as Blanche's visit wears on, we come to see the true Stanley, violent and abusive.
In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams uses the suicide of Blanche's husband to illuminate Blanche's insecurities and immoral behavior. When something terrible happens to someone, it often reveals who he or she truly is. Blanche falls victim to this behavior, and she fails to face her demons. This displays how the play links a character’s illogical choices and their inner struggles.
Londre, Felicia Hardison. "A Streetcar Running Fifty Years." The Cambridge Companion to Tennessee Williams. Ed. Matthew C. Roudane. New York: Cambridge UP, 1997. 45-66.
If an individual is familiar with their surrounding “they are more likely to help” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print). In the essay, the authors state “the scene of the crime, the streets, in middle class society “represents all the vulgar and perilous in life” (Milgram, Stanley, and Paul Hollander. Paralyzed Witnesses: The Murder They Heard. Print.). In society, the streets, especially at night, represents the dangerous and negative sides of society due to the crimes and chaos that occur on the streets (gangs, drive-by shootings, robberies, murders, large crowds walking, etc.). The crimes and dangers of the streets cause many people to fear being on the streets alone which leads to external conflicts. When the murder was occurring, the witnesses’ attitudes of the streets prevented them from calling the police due to the fear of the streets and since the witnesses were middle-class, they believed that Genovese was poor, a criminal, or someone who has nothing else to do and was expecting for the=is to eventually