In the story The Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria express contrasting personality traits. Firstly, Homer is flexible, meaning he does not live by a strict routine or specific plan for the day. For instance, Homer sleeps in late while he stays with the nuns rather than waking up early to start working or begin a routine. Mother Maria, in contrast, is strict. She lives by a precise routine consisting of waking hour, mealtimes, prayer moments, and work time. Secondly, Homer is considerate while Mother Maria is unsympathetic. After his first payday at a construction company, Homer uses this money to buy groceries for the nun’s meals. Mother Maria, on the other hand, refuses to pay Homer after he spends long hours
One of the characters who was a major influence in Ricky’s life is his mother. She is a very strong willed and opinionated person. As Rivera points out at the beginning of the novel “I am still amazed that I really don’t know who this woman is. None of us do. My brothers and sisters have conflicting fictions of where Chero is from, but we agree that if we could just pinpoint an exact geographical moment of being, we could start to figure out mother out.” (3) The author reflects on his respect for his mother when he writes about her determination, her purpose, her willingness to confront bosses, teachers, neighbors and husbands even as he states “to this day I still wonder who this woman is.” (10 )
In The Lilies of the Field, by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria share the similar character traits of stubbornness, hard-working, and kind-hearted. Homer and Mother Maria are both very hard-working. Homer is treated with inferiority and told he cannot possibly be dedicated enough to build the chapel for Mother Maria and the nuns. However, he stubbornly insists to construct the church in spite of the prejudice against him. Prior to meeting Homer, Mother Maria was adamant about building the chapel with just herself and the nuns. Though most of the town believes her to be an impractical nun with overly optimistic goals, this merely bolsters her commitment to establishing the church. When Homer leaves town, Mother Maria is steadfast
The author Eugenia Collier of the story “Marigolds” uses diction, connotation, and imagery to touch the hearts, and create pictures in the minds of her audience. One example of when diction is used was when the author wrote “Old witch fell in a ditch picked up a penny and thought she was rich.” The story “Marigolds” is a true story based on actual events that occurred in the author Eugenia Collier’s life. When the author wrote this, she showed how rude and childish her young self once was. By doing this, the author Eugenia Collier is able to emphasize the big change of when she transitions from a childish 14 year old, into a more mature young adult. Also, one example of imagery used in this story “Marigolds” was when the author Eugenia Collier,
She considers herself to be a woman highly capable of caring for all the children, yet she still struggles to deal with the stress of everyday financial issues. Williams, on the other hand, lives in a wealthier neighborhood and only has one child. Mr. Williams owns a law firm while Mrs. Williams is a senior manager of a major corporation.... ... middle of paper ...
The character analysis of Mary Anne Bell in comparison and contrast to Martha and Elroy Berdahl implores the audience to consider the idea that gender is not inherent.
Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age. By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture. Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be an evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600)." While this view may have been extreme even for the Greeks, they were convinced of the physical and intellectual inferiority of women. Thus, they believed that it was better for all--...
deceitful and Homer is a sexist who holds a double standard of morality for men
Feminism in John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums. At first glance, John Steinbeck’s "The Chrysanthemums" seems to be a story about a woman whose niche is in the garden. Upon deeper inspection, the story has strong notes of feminism in the central character, Elisa Allen. Elisa’s actions and feelings reflect her struggle as a woman trying and failing to emasculate herself in a male-dominated society.
"Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt degeneration; it is the inherent in the very texture of human life" (Whitehead). The feelings and emotions that come from reading a powerful short story can be intensified with the use of symbols. In works such as "The Sound of Thunder", "The Scarlet Ibis", and "Marigolds", the author's cleverly use ordinary objects, such as a sound, a bird, or a flower, to represent crucial ideas, thoughts, and opinions. The message of a story can have a varying impact on the reader, depending on what the symbols utilized represent.
Her motherly instinct can make her seem weak and shallow, but in reality it’s one of her strongest character traits. Brady can tend to overextend himself, putting him into situations that may threaten his health. Mrs. Brady keeps him in check. After arriving in Hillsboro, the town prepares a picnic for Brady to enjoy, before he begins to eat, she reminds him, “. . . it’s a warm day. Remember, the doctor told you not to overeat” (23). While these comments may seem like incessant nagging, they come from a place of unconditional love and worry. Mrs. Brady takes on this role of “mother” so well that her husband refers to her as mother frequently. After Drummond...
Often times, inexperienced readers and writers do not understand the relationship between symbolism and names. Symbolism, however, can be transmitted effectively and efficiently through names. In fact, names in themselves are symbols. Take Mariam, for example. The name Mariam typically represents friendliness but stubbornness.1 However names are not the only symbols.
"A symbol is an act, person, thing, or spectacle that stands for something else, by association a usually broader idea in addition to its own literal meaning" (Cassill & Bausch, 1728). John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" may seem as a story describing a simple day with the Allen couple. It begins with Elisa Allen working in her garden and her husband, Henry Allen, negotiating with two suited business men that want to purchase steers. They seem to engage in conversations and go about their day as they normally would do. By the time the story ends, they are on their way to dinner and a movie. At first glance, this story may seem as nothing special, just a day in the life of fairly happy couple attempting to enjoy their marriage. However, there is much more under the surface of what is written. The story has a relative amount of symbols which gives light on other details of the story. It is not until after looking at deeper meanings of some of the symbols that there can be a more comprehensive reading of the tale. If one takes a good look, one can notice that Henry is an uncommunicative husband, and Elisa craves for more from the relationship, and her life. The lack of passion between Elisa and her husband leads her to use her flowers, the chrysanthemums, and other household tasks as an outlet for the attention that she longs for. Elisa, like many other women, is limited by society's view on women's position in the home.
Homer Smith is a traveling handyman who stops at a yard to get water for his car. There he sees several women working on a fence, very awkwardly. The women, who speak very little English, introduce themselves as German nuns. He gets the water for the car but the mother, the leader of the nuns, persuades him to fix the roof. He stays over night, thinking that he will be paid in the morning and be on his way. Mother Maria is very stern and like things done her way. The nuns have basically no money and survive by living off the land, on vegetables, milk, and eggs. Smith agrees to stay another day to help with small jobs, having high hopes that he will be paid for his work. Mother Maria notice how good Smith was working and came to believe that he was sent by God to build them a chapel (or “shaple” as Mother Maria called it) for them to have mass. When Sunday comes, Mother Maria informs Smith that he will be driving them to Mass in his car. Smith was invited to attend the Mass, but because he is a Baptist. Smith came to realize that he was not going to get paid, but stays longer to clear...
The two characters help each other develop throughout the story. Fenstad is a person who is very reluctant to change, whereas his mother is an individual whose mind is always open to new possibilities. It did not surprise me that Mrs.
mother’s (22). This contrast in her wifehood and her mother’s reflects the cultural contrast of