Hector Tobar, author of the The Barbarian Nurseries conforms to the conventions of suburban fiction and provides many common archetypes of the genre to illustrate how the suburban lifestyle has become a dystopia for the children who live there. Tobar does so through the extensive use of imagery from the point of views of the main characters and some instances of a point of view from minor characters.
Tobar's first step in creating the genre for the novel is employing a substantial amount of imagery. Even before any of his characters in the novel had any spoken dialogue, their home was described to be “...in this house on a hill high above the ocean, on a cul-de-sac absent of pedestrians or playing children, absent of traffic, absent of the
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banter of vendors and policemen. It was a street of long silences.” (Tobar p. 2) providing suburban elements commonly found in the suburban neighborhood. Tobar wants to give his audience a good idea of the lifestyle he's trying to portray and because he understands, like Flannery O'Connor that “The beginning of Human Knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins. He appeals through the senses, and you cannot appeal to the senses with abstractions.” without any particular context, any of the actions from Tobar's characters would appear to be happening in an abstract plane where objects and places are not connected to each other. However, Tobar began describing the world through visual imagery, the type imagery that we as readers can easily identify places with. In this manner, Tobar makes it easy for his audience to see a transition between the places described while providing actions that would invoke that transition such as when “Araceli made el señor Scott a lemonade and walked out into the searing light to give it to him, as much to inspect his work as anything else.” from the kitchen to the house's front yard. Only after this imagery is accomplished, Tobar begins to portray more of the archetypes that are usually found in a suburban novel starting with Scott, the owner of the house. However he's first portrayed to the audience through the point of view of Araceli, the maid of their home as she sees Scott struggling to cut off the grass. She watched him brush the grass off his arms and suddenly there was an unexpected pathos about him: el señor Scott, the unlikely lord of this tidy and affluent mansion, reduced to a tiller’s role, harvesting the undisciplined product of the soil, when he should be inside, in the shade, away from the sun. (Tobar p. 4) Through Araceli’s detailed observation, Tobar establishes that, like other characters from Suburban novels, Scott has lost a small fortune and lost his old place in the social pecking order.
Scott must now do the job of his previous employee in order for his home to look presentable in the neighborhood. In doing so, Scott would be able to maintain the image of a wealthy family while saving to make up for his recent financial loss. At the same time, Tobar creates the dystopian idea of unhappiness. Scott is not happy about what he needs to do to keep his family’s image, so unhappy that he would give up on keeping the garden in a good condition the same day he cut the …show more content…
grass. Throughout the entire novel the garden conveys the idea that it reflects the financial stability and happiness of the family. Not just because Scott has to work on it to save money because it is the center of the home’s image for Maureen who perceives the garden as part of her home, “... a living thing that was aging, suddenly, a green corner of this perfect home that had become stricken with a deadly disease.” (Tobar p. 22) She feels others are perceiving her negatively because the lack of care she has put to that garden, and she sees it as one her friends takes pity on her for not being able to maintain it. It is later revealed that because of the garden Maureen has had many heated discussions with Scott and they only grew as their garden waned. Their fights reached a breaking point when Scott pushed her on to the table and caused them to leave for four days. At first everyone saw the desert garden as a barren wasteland which had no redeeming quality. Only after the fight did everyone else, including Scott, thought that they had an appealing sight in the greeneries of their suburban homes. Showing a more optimistic outlook towards the garden only after their big fight happened shows that they feel regret and in many occasions both Scott and Maureen should have approached the garden problem differently in order to keep a good outer image while maintaining their inner problems to a minimum. But it was only because of the problem of their lost kids that Maureen and Scott understood in the end that their social status had been lowered and they should adjust their living conditions accordingly. When Maureen understood that she needed to readjust the way by which she lived. She needed to move to a new place which “...embodied the new person [Maureen] wanted to become.”(Tobar p.37) she knew that she needed her family to move to a place where she can learn at her own pace on how to make it nicer without the need of other workers and where she can let the kids roam free. This is an idea that is also found in Facts About Industrial Los Angeles: Nature’s Workshop, by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce who describe California to be a place where “the workers live in their own little bungalows, surrounded by plenty of land for fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and where children romp and play throughout the entire year…” While also finding a home where her family could finally reach happiness,Maureen even found that in her new potential home she could grow her own fruits and vegetables when the lady next door brought on “organically grown” black cherry tomatoes. Her interest in the tomatoes show that she would eventually find happiness in the home where she could start to grow fruits from her own land. In the end Scott would be the main beneficiary of the smaller home as both his wife and children were happy to be in that new home. Although the home was more expensive, Scott knew that a happy family mean that he would be happy. In the end he understood that a closed suburban lifestyle would only create more unhappiness and tension that would later tear his family apart if he opted to stay and maintain his previous social status. Although the archetype of an unfulfilled marriage in the suburbs is properly filled by Scott and Maureen, Tobar differentiates the story of this family from the rest, is when he makes Keenan and Brandon, the two kids, the driving force for the occurring events.
The idea of kids being the central focus of a suburban novel is rare since the New York times describes them to be “reduced to walk-on roles as the adults get on with the more important business of drinking and sleeping with other people's spouses.” Until chapter twelve, it looked like Tobar was going to treat his child characters in the same way that other contemporary writers have done and keep them as background scenery for either Scott or Maureen. Instead the suburban setting changes to the city of Los Angeles because of them. Without them Araceli would have stayed at home and clean up the house until Scott and Maureen came back after their big fight. Instead Araceli made the choice of taking the boys to the nearest possible guardian so they don't end up in foster care as she feared they would from the negligence they received from Scott and Maureen. It can be argued that Keenan could have told either Scott or Maureen that neither one of them was home but it was his naivete that prevented him or any child to ask the important
questions. Tobar takes the idea of kids being a far more important role to his novel by providing passages from the point of view of either Keenan or Brandon. Brandon who is the older and smarter of the two brothers, has his thoughts more reasonably fleshed out, and he begins to see the change of the scenery of how his life has been totally sheltered. The first time he encounters that realization is right after he leaves his home with Araceli and his younger brother and “he was struck by the strangeness of what he was doing: undertaking an expedition through streets he knew only from the windows of his parents’ automobiles.” (Tobar p. 92) Before that very moment, Brandon and Keenan's lives were only taking place inside their homes, the park, and in their private schools. Being just outside of there made them feel like they were in an entirely different world. The fact that both Brandon and Keenan ask so many questions when seeing something new specially in those moments of the big city makes us readers think that they are at least two years younger than what they actually are, also making us realize how secluded the lives of these two kids have become as a result of being raised in the suburbs. Because of the new experiences Keenan and Brandon find themselves asking many questions Araceli can not answer and in return she responds with “Too many questions.” a remark that made Brandon begin making his own assumptions of what was happening around him. He assumed that the homeless people he saw on the train station to Los Angeles were refugees, time traveling in a train, a pig being cooked underground as a fire burning the top and, a boy he met as a slave. Only the first remark was made to Araceli and she also responded negatively by telling Brandon that he “read too much.” When a psychologist hears the same testimony from him, she also makes the same remark, implying that the children had been sheltered for so long that they fail to differentiate fact from fiction. It is those same confused observations that got Araceli arrested on charges of kidnapping and child endangerment. Although they thought of Tomas as a slave Brandon and Keenan admired his ability to be outside his home and interact with others and know them, in a similar way that they know their home and their books. By the end of the journey and back to their home, Brandon realized that he did not want to go back to his home in Casa Linda Bonita, he knew then that he wanted to spend more time outside, and as a kid being somewhere you do not want to be would make you unhappy. This unhappiness would only continue until he moves out of that secluded home and even then he wouldn't know what to do with himself. A suburban dystopia is stems from a child's unhappiness in his home and Brandon knows that being secluded for many more years would make his unhappiness grow. If he was to move to his new potential home, he would be free to be outside like Tomas and meet the girl he desires to see again. Maureen and Scott are not only giving themselves the opportunity to find happiness in a new place but to also let their kids grow in a more free environment and in turn find their own unhappiness.
In this short, but charming story, Amy Tan uses imagery to bring the story to life. With figurative language, the reader is immersed into the Chinese culture and can better relate to the characters. Tan main use of imagery is to better explain each character. Often instead of a simple explanation, Tan uses metaphors, similes, or hyperboles to describe the person, this way they are more relatable and their feelings better understood.
“ The horizon was the color of milk. Cold and fresh. Poured out among the bodies” (Zusak 175). The device is used in the evidence of the quote by using descriptives words that create a mental image. The text gives the reader that opportunity to use their senses when reading the story. “Somehow, between the sadness and loss, Max Vandenburg, who was now a teenager with hard hands, blackened eyes, and a sore tooth, was also a little disappointed” (Zusak 188). This quote demonstrates how the author uses descriptive words to create a mental image which gives the text more of an appeal to the reader's sense such as vision. “She could see his face now, in the tired light. His mouth was open and his skin was the color of eggshells. Whisker coated his jaw and chin, and his ears were hard and flat. He had a small but misshapen nose” (Zusak 201). The quotes allows the reader to visualize what the characters facial features looked like through the use of descriptive words. Imagery helps bring the story to life and to make the text more exciting. The reader's senses can be used to determine the observations that the author is making about its characters. The literary device changes the text by letting the reader interact with the text by using their observation skills. The author is using imagery by creating images that engages the reader to know exactly what's going on in the story which allows them to
In the beginning, the mother leaves the house and runs off into the cornfields near the house. The father asks his brother to babysit the children while he runs after his wife. Uncle Trash is the father’s brother; he comes to watch the boys while the father runs after the wife. While both parents are gone, the children are not exactly alone. Uncle Trash is rarely with the boys throughout the story, he is always leaving to go to the bar and gamble. This way in the story, the boys are always alone and can do whatever they want. This freedom often leads to bad experiences when left in the hands of children. The boys in the story did not get into trouble till the end of the story, in the mean time they dug holes in the yard and played with toy metal cars until the uncle returned sometimes days later. Unsupervised children can be very dangerous; they can hurt themselves or others. “Uncle Trash said the man who won the card game went ahead and beat up Uncle Trash on purpose anyway”. For the time being Uncle Trash is their role model. He is clearly a bad role model judging from this line in the story. This relates to the reality side of things, where children grow up with parents who are just like Uncle Trash. The author tries relating scenarios from the story to life to get the audience to understand the society they live in. Another aspect of unsupervised children would be abandonment, which the boys
Where they grew up, kids as young as 8 years old were recruited into illegal operations; Wes and Tony included. Mary tried everything she could, but had lost her sons to the wonder and curiosity that money brings. The important place a mother should hold in her son’s life vanished and she was left to take care of their mistakes. Later in their lives, both boys were caught in a heist that set them up for an entire lifetime in jail. Their arrest sent “cheering responses” from everyone in their community. The boys were not only involved with a robbery, but a murder as well. The word spread quickly about their sentences and a “collective sigh of relief seeped through Baltimore. At home, Mary wept” (Moore 155). Many families go through traumatic experiences comparable to Mary’s situation. The choices her sons made left her alone, parallel to the isolation the boys were experiencing as
Imagery is used by many authors as a crucial element of character development. These authors draw parallels between the imagery in their stories and the main characters' thoughts and feelings. Through intense imagery, non-human elements such as the natural environment, animals, and inanimate objects are brought to life with characteristics that match those of the characters involved.
Due to the development of characters, situation, and the theme, imagery can help to convey a particular impression and is mandatory in any story.
The West side of Chicago, Harlem, Watts, Roxbury, and Detroit. What do all of these areas have in common? These areas, along with many others have become mine fields for the explosive issues of race, values, and community responsibility, led by the plight of the urban underclass. Issues such as violent crime, social separation, welfare dependence, drug wars, and unemployment all play a major role in the plight of American inner-city life. Alex Kotlowitz's book: There Are No Children Here, confronts America's devastated urban life; a most painful issue in America. Kotlowitz traces the lives of two black boys; 10 year old LaFayette, and 7 year old Pharoah, as they struggle to beat the odds growing up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Their family includes a welfare dependent mother, an alcholic-drug using father, an older sister, an older brother, and younger triplets. Kotlowoitz describes the horrors of an ill-maintained housing project completely taken over by gangs, where murders and shootings are an everyday thing. Kotlowitz does a fine job at portraying ghetto life; those who are outside the American dream. He succeeds at putting a face on th people trapped inside the housing projects with virtually no hope of escape. One can truly feel a sense of great loss for the family, and a great deal of hope for the two young boys. You can truly feel yourself hoping that things will work out for them, and you can really feel like you know these young men on a personal basis. Kotlowotz spent a great deal of time with the boys so he could portray the world from the eyes of a child growing up in the ghetto, and he does an amazing job.
Imagery plays a big part in the success of a novel. Different writers have different styles. The good thing about imagery is it makes room for the reader to put things together. The reader is allowed to interpret the story the way that they like. "Ragged Dick", Horatio Alger, Jr. did a great thing with imagery. While reading the novel readers had a change to envision many things that were mentioned in each chapter. Algar interconnected the appearances of the main character to his living arrangement. He also connected these things with the character's attitude.
An example of imagery used in chapter 22 is when Tim O'Brien is describing a Vietnam village along the China Sea. He states, "It was all wreckage. I remember the smell of burnt straw; I remember broken fences and torn-up trees and heaps of stone and brick and pottery. The place was deserted--no people, no animals--and the only confirmed kill was an old man who lay face-up near a pigpen at the center of the village." His vivid description allows me to see the village and all it's
The ability to make the reader immersed in the story and the main character is the best thing to have when writing a piece. It helps the reader decide whether to keep reading or not. This ability is known as imagery. Imagery is writing with metaphors and the five sense, which creates a scene for the reader. Imagery is basically the way the author shows the reader what the main character or narrator is seeing. Janet Burroway, author of “Imaginative Writing”, which is a book about writing and the components of it, states that Image is, “An image is a word or series of words that evokes one or more of the five senses.” (Burroway, 15) Imagery is very important and good authors know how to use it to add more meaning and power to their literature.
Imagery is when an author uses vivid and descriptive language that appeal to the reader’s senses and deepen the understanding of their work and characters. Steinbeck uses imagery throughout his novel to help the reader to see in the mind’s eye the way he wants him to understand his character’s actions and behaviors. Through the examples of imagery used with Lennie and a bear, Lennie and his dog, and Candy and his dog, readers are able to picture and feel these characters the way Steinbeck envisioned
The neglection of the boys parents also serves as a key aspect of their motivation;of the few times parents were mentioned in the story, the most memorable ones were of the degradation of T's parents and Mike's parental negligence on the first day of demolition.
The writer uses imagery, because he wants to let the readers into his mind. By describing the scene for the readers, makes the readers fell like they were there. Therefore, it gives us a better ability to emphasize with him.
“Eye-opening and confronting, this book was a shock, an honest adventure and the epitome of emotion. Kaur 's poetic writing was mind-blowing, truthful and descriptive to the point where I was physically wrought with pain, burning with anger, drowning in helplessness, and falling into depths of despair.” Milk and Honey, a book of poetry by Rupi Kaur made me feel vulnerable and raw. Never in my life have I felt this type of heart-wrenching pain and enlightening knowledge that opened not only my eyes but my heart with deep emotions. I will review the book based on its writing style and tone, its illustrations, and its successful use of imagery.
In William Shakespeare’s play “Othello” the use of animal imagery was evident throughout the telling of the story of the.. Shakespeare explained several characters actions by comparing them to similarities in animals. The characters in “Othello” were often depicted as having animal-like characteristics. Some characters were even compared to animals by other characters in the play. By defining characters in terms of these characteristics one can get a clear description of what the character is doing or saying as compared to certain animals.