story

917 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on symbolism in literature

The book that was chosen for this essay was The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. In order for this tale to be understood fully one would need to know that The Neverending Story is an actual book being read by a character. The character that is reading the book eventually enters the story and becomes the main character within it. Bastian a pale, fat kid that is picked on by other students from his school is the main character who reads and enters The Neverending Story. While Bastian is reading this tale he is introduced to the main character within the story and his name is Atreyu. He is little boy who looks to be at the age of ten and has blue-black hair. There are two settings in this story; the first one being inside of a school attic where Bastian is reading The Neverending Story and the second is when Bastian goes inside of the book where Fantastica lies. There are two major conflicts that are going on within the story. The primary conflict in the story is that Fantastica is being consumed by the nothing and will soon there will no longer be Fantastica if Atreyu cannot find a human to give the Childlike Empress a new name. The secondary struggle is that Bastian is given an amulet by the Childlike Empress that allows him to wish anything that he desires; but the cost of a wish is Bastian’s memory. Once he uses all of his memories than he is trapped inside of Fantastica forever. So to keep from being stuck; he must find his way out of the book.
Joseph Campbell’s monomyth is seen in The Neverending Story. The departure happens when Bastian is needed to come inside the story to give the Childlike Empress a new name. Bastian is scared at first to enter into the book because he fears that maybe once he is in then he would not b...

... middle of paper ...

...yu because he is with Bastian throughout many of his adventures. He also tries to direct Bastian to put effort to getting back to his home world so that he would not be endlessly bound in Fantastica with any memory of anything of his world or himself. This story also includes one of the Weigle creation myths. The creation myth that was used in this story was ex nihilo. Bastian tells stories to certain characters in the story which come true and create in the process. For example Bastian spoke the story of the library of Amarganth which gave the Amarganthians the history of their existence. It told them of how the silver city in which the Amarganthians came to be. He spoke of how the acharis made the lake of tears which when he spoke actually made the acharis come to life. After reading this story is was obvious of how mythology plays a key role throughout the book.

Show More
Related

  • The Witch Wins in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the small, desolate town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, Ethan Frome lives a life of poverty. Not only does he live hopelessly, but “he was a prisoner for life” to the economy (Ammons 2). A young engineer from outside of town narrates the beginning of the story. He develops a curiosity towards Ethan Frome and the smash-up that he hears about in bits and pieces. Later, due to a terrible winter storm that caused the snow itself to seem like “a part of the thickening darkness, to be the winter night itself descending on us layer by layer” (Wharton 20), the narrator is forced to stay the night at Frome’s. As he enters the unfamiliar house, the story flashes back twenty-four years to Ethan Frome’s young life. Living out his life with Zenobia Frome, his hypochondriac of a wife whom he does not love, Ethan has nowhere to turn for a glance at happiness. But when Zenobia’s, or Zeena’s, young cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to care for her, Ethan falls in love with the young aid. Mattie is Ethan’s sole light in life and “she is in contrast to everything in Starkfield; her feelings bubble near the surface” (Bernard 2). All through the novella, the two young lovers hide their feelings towards each other. When they finally let out their true emotions to each other in the end, the consequence is an unforeseen one. Throughout Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton portrays a twisted fairy tale similar to the story of Snow White with the traditional characters, but without a happy ending to show that in a bleak and stark reality, the beautiful and enchanting maiden could become the witch.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Freedom Exposed in Anthem

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    The city represented slavery. When in the city, Equality had been guilty of many transgressions. He was not like his brothers, he was different he was smarter, healthier, and stronger. At the age of five he advanced to home of the student, where he got scolded for learning faster then his brothers. Equality teachers told him that he had evil in his bones because he was taller then his brothers. Then at the age of fifteen when the house of vocations came Equality was guilty of the great transgression of preference because he wanted to be a scholar, but his selected vocation was to be a street sweeper. Every day while he swept by the fields he would watch and smile at Liberty and she would smile back. Liberty was a woman that worked in the home of the peasants. Making contact with a woman was prohibited but for when in the palace of the mating. The palace of the mating was where people were forced to breed. Equality thought touching a woman was shameful and ugly. Th! en one day while he swept the streets he found a grate that led to underground tunnel full of things from the unmentionable times. For two years he went to the tunnel and discovered a new glowing light. Then one day while in the tunnel decided that he must share his secret with his brothers. He decided that he would bring his secret in front of the world council meeting. When Equality entered the world council meeting the scholars got frightened and angry. They demanded that he tell them why he was there. He connected the wires and they glowed, the scholars backed up against the wall as they stared in horror. They told him that he they were going to punish for breaking so many laws. Equality trembled in fright he quickly grabbed the light and ran to the uncharted forest. No man followed because they feared the unknown.

    Read More

  • Julio Cortazar's Axolotl Misidentified as Magical Realism

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...rms of literature, too. The hesitation in this story is a characteristic of fantastic literature, and the language is a characteristic of the sublime. This story may also be categorized as psychic or grotesque realism. Whether or not this is a work of magical realism or another form of literature, the final conclusion is up to the reader.

    Read More

  • Hard Lives in South Bronx depicted in The Boy Without a Flag

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    Another interesting aspect the reader might recognize in these stories is the theme of acceptance and integration to something either known or unknown to them. Most of these stories deal with having to change who they are or what they would become like Nilsa, the boy, and others, they have all had to choose what they wanted for there life and accept the fact that if they did not take serious measures they would not be integrated into society prosperously.

    Read More

  • Where the Wild things Are Film

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...h is why fantasy is necessary for children in succeeding through a quest for sanity and morality. Through what is essentially known as escaping reality, children such as the character Max can further bring themselves to understand what they are feeling by unconsciously thinking about it in an imaginative way. Projecting certain personalities into characters in a way that accurately relates to Max is a prosperous way to develop a reassured idea in his life, between himself and the relationships around him. Thus, effortlessly reaching a sense of sanity and morality after all, “Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.” (Lloyd Alexander)

    Read More

  • Explaining the Hero’s Journey

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, he talks about the “Monomyth,” otherwise better known as, the “Hero’s Journey”. This is the major theme throughout this book as well as the majority of Joseph Campbell’s studies. Campbell’s idea of the hero’s journey can be seen in many books, movies, television series, etc. That is an idea I will discuss at a later date. For this paper I would like to discuss and explain the hero’s journey, as well as give my opinions on the idea. This is a very interesting and eye opening idea that Campbell has presented us with and has made The Hero With A Thousand Faces one of the most important books of the past one hundred years.

    Read More

  • The Truth about Stories

    2174 Words  | 5 Pages

    In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.

    Read More

  • The Most Dangerous Game versus The Child by Tiger

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...st person. The narrator is looking back on this story and remembering things from a child’s point of view. The reader only sees the narrator’s opinion in the story, but that allows the reader to have his own opinions as well, questioning the literary work constantly. This makes the story more complex and permits the reader to wonder what is going on inside each of the characters’ heads.

    Read More

  • Theme Corruption In Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    story as the corruption of evil takes a prominent role in the story of the two children. The

    Read More

  • Analysis Of On Turning Ten By Billy Collins

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    The imagery used by Collins shows how an imagination slowly fades as a person ages."At four I was an arabian wizard. I could make myself invisable by drinking a glass of milk a certain way. At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince" (13-16). Even though the boy is using his imagination, it is clear that each year he gets older his imagination becomes less fictional and more real. At each age his dreams become more realistic. The order of being a wizard, being invisible, and becoming a prince show how the boy has matured. Now as he looks back, he feels as though he is completely mature and all his dreams must come to an

    Read More

  • Ellen Foster

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and

    Read More

  • Henry and the Great Society HL Roush

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parable—the style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence in Araby by James Joyce

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...hen you reach the end the boy has taken a turn and instantly matures in the last sentence. Something like that doesn’t just happen in a matter of seconds. Therefore the readers gets the sense that the narrator is the boy all grown up. He is recollecting his epiphany within the story allowing the readers to realize themselves that the aspiration to live and dream continues throughout the rest of ones life. The narrator remembers this story as a transformation from innocence to knowledge. Imagination and reality clearly become two different things to the narrator; an awareness that everyone goes though at some point in their life. It may not be as dramatic as this story but it gradually happens and the innocence is no longer present.

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Story of An Hour, Mrs. Mallard seemed to me like an old misunderstood woman and as we are told in the very first line, afflicted with a heart trouble. I was surprised later, when it said that she was young. I think that Chopin is showing us a social situation of the times with the woman as a prisoner of her husband. Marriage was not always about mutual love between two people and during that time Chopin was writing, which was during 1804-1904, this was often the case. Marriage was as much about monetary comfort, social status as it was about possible love. There are no children mentioned in the story, which makes me wonder if there was a sexual relationship between the Mallards.

    Read More

  • Choices, Actions And Characters In Rene Denfeld's The Enchanted

    2052 Words  | 5 Pages

    Our world, and lives, are full of trials and tribulations. Its our choices, actions, or lack thereof when facing these difficulties that influence the direction of our lives. Rene Denfeld explores this wonderfully in her novel The Enchanted. Her characters all face trials, of varying degrees of intensity, that not only shape them but also the direction of their lives. She delves into this process thoroughly through her character of the white-haired boy. He transforms from an optimistic boy, to a hollow victim of abuse and a corrupt penal system, and finally into a man who did what was necessary to survive.

    Read More

More about story

Open Document