In her 1936 novel Nightwood, Djuna Barnes explores colorful facets of the characters that we may liken to the dazzling performers in a popular Paris cabaret or cirque noir (p. 11). Although readers may argue that the novel’s central character is the “tall girl with the body of a boy,” whom we come to know as Mademoiselle Robin Vote, I agree with critics who claim, Dr. Matthew Dante O’Connor is the main character. Evan as O’Connor is serving as a friend and confidante to other characters in the novel, he captivating us with his woven tales of love and love lost (p. 46). Without O’Connor, who seems to know “everyone” and everything, there is not another obvious character who could narrate the story in his place (p. 165). According to some, “the …show more content…
O’Connor by name immediately after we are aware of him across the room at a party (p. 14). Generally, Barnes describes a character with much greater detail before she finally reveals the name.
To further support O’Connor’s role as a main character, Barnes devotes much of the story to describe his effeminate mannerisms. Barnes describes the doctor as someone who carried his hands “like a dog who is walking on his hind legs,” we learn because he would pray he would “wake up in the morning without finding [his] hands on [his] hips” (pp. 32, 130). As an affirmation of his sexuality, and possibly the reason the other women in the story relate to him so well is that O’Connor considers himself “the other woman that God forgot” (p. 143).
Another clue that Robin is not the main character is because of how she has brief relationships with the other people in the story. On the other hand, the doctor maintains a long-standing relationship with everyone. For instance, the people the doctor was acquainted with early in the story such as Nora, Felix, and Frau Mann, are still his friends by the end of the novel. While it may be true that Robin makes lasting impressions on everyone, her relationships are brief by
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43, 49). Regarding Robin’s relationship to Nora, she is at times more like a child, and even still, to Jenny, she is but a “second-hand” lover (pp. 68, 101). In an effort to explain Robin’s difficulties with relationships, Nora suggests, “Robin [seems] enormous and polarized, all catastrophes [run] toward her” (p. 56). To Nora, Robin is “the magnetized predicament” (p. 56). Moreover, Nora feels as if Robin is “moved out of death’s way by the successive arms of women” (p. 64). In other words, as far as relationships go, Robin is disaster prone and only saved by the forgiveness of the women she
Both Vanity Fair and A Room of One’s Own explore and challenge the idea that women are incapable of creating a name and a living for themselves, thus are completely dependent on a masculine figure to provide meaning and purpose to their lives. Thackeray, having published Vanity Fair in 1848, conforms to the widely accepted idea that women lack independence when he makes a note on Ms Pinkerton and remarks “the Lexicographer’s name was always on the lips of the majestic woman… [He] was the cause of her reputation and her fortune.” The way that a man’s name was metaphorically “always on the lips of the majestic woman” and how he was the source of “her reputation and her fortune” expresses this idea, especially through Thackeray’s skilful use of a sanguine tone to communicate that this cultural value, or rather inequality, was not thought of as out of the ordinary. From viewing this in a current light and modernised perspective...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” utilize character responsibilities to create a sinister plot. For Hawthorne, protagonist Young Goodman Brown must leave his wife at home while he partakes in a night journey. For Poe, ancillary Fortunato covets a pretentious manner towards his wine tasting skills, and after being ‘challenged’ decides to prove his expertise by sampling Amontillado. Hawthorne and Poe showcase a theme of darkness but differ in their approach to the setting, characters, and fate of entrapment.
Flannery O’Connor was born Mary Flannery O’Connor on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as the only child to Edward F. O’Connor, Jr., and Regina (Cline) O’Connor. Later in 1941, Flannery O’Connor’s father dies of lupus while O’Connor is in Milledgeville, Ga. After her father’s death, O’Connor rarely speaks of him and continues to be active in school projects such as drawing, reading, writing, and playing instraments. Further, in the summer of 1942, O’Connor graduates and enters Georgia State College for Women as a sociology and English major. Moreover, O’Connor took on the name Flannery O’Connor, dropping Mary from her signature. When O’Connor graduates from college, she leaves for Iowa City and applies for several college teaching positions while attending the University of Iowa. Thus, she receives her Masters of Fine Arts in 1947. Although her first story, “The Geranium” was publised in Accent, during the summer of 1946, it was only the beginning of many of her works to be published. Like her father, O’Connor was living with lupus and her first major attack came in December, 1950. However, O’Connor did not allow the disease to keep her from writing and getting her works published. In fact, she got her nineth story , “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” published. Also, O’Connor has won many prizes and awards with her writings over the years. For instance, she was named the Honorary Doctor of Letters by institutions, was the first prize of the O. Henry award in 1957 and 1963 and had previously won second in 1954 and 1955. Moreover, O’Connor died on August 3, 1964 I a Milledgeville hospital. Nevertheless, her stories cont...
Flannery O’ Connor is known for her great short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Wise Blood”, “The Violent Bear It Away”, and “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” As a young reader, I often analyze every aspect of an author’s work in an attempt to figure out their influences and inspirations. In this paper, I will be unraveling the underlying factors that possibly played a part in O’Connor’s writing. Could her upbringing be the reason she wrote using southern dialect? Her religion majorly showed throughout all of her writings, so could that have been one of her main influence...
With a heart-full of advice and wisdom, Dinah maturates from a simple- minded young girl to a valiant independent individual. “For a moment I weighed the idea of keeping my secret and remaining a girl, the thought passes quickly. I could only be what I was. And that was a woman” (170). This act of puberty is not only her initiation into womanhood but the red tent as well. She is no longer just an observer of stories, she is one of them, part of their community now. On account of this event, Dinah’s sensuality begins to blossom and she is able to conceive the notion of true love.
Desmond, John. Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil. Renascence. Marquette University. Winter2004, Vol. 56 Issue 2, p129-137. 9p. Web.
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Comp. John Schilb and John Clifford. Making Literature Matter. Print.
Many of the short stories within the collection The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, can be compared and contrasted in regards to elements including theme, characters, and technique. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the character Mary Anne Bell appears to be apparently similar to the character Martha from “The Things They Carried,” in that both are young women who have relations with a soldier in the war. Though upon further analysis of Mary Anne, it appears she is far from alike to Martha. Rather, an unexpected parallel can be drawn between the characters Mary Anne and Elroy Berdahl, from “On the Rainy River,” in that both appear to be epitomes of masculinity. The peculiar connection between these characters developed by Tim O’Brien shines a light on the ambiguity of conventional gender roles of men and women.
To the uninitiated, the writing of Flannery O'Connor can seem at once cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent. Her short stories routinely end in horrendous, freak fatalities or, at the very least, a character's emotional devastation. Working his way through "Greenleaf," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," or "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the new reader feels an existential hollowness reminiscent of Camus' The Stranger; O'Connor's imagination appears a barren, godless plane of meaninglessness, punctuated by pockets of random, mindless cruelty.
Carmen Sternwood is described with profoundness but in a different (less sexual) sense than her sister is. Marlowe encounters her on many occasions and is thorough in describing her--from her first flirtations to her continuous irritations. In t...
Bruccoli, Matthew J. and Judith S. Baughman. Reader's Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night.
Nora’s life struggle began at a young age. Her father treated her like an inhuman object, and now her husband has done the same thing. After many years of maintaining her “perfect” life, Nora could no longer live like this. She finally stands up for herself and makes a choice to leave her family. This decision is completely reasonable. It is unimaginable to think anyone could treat another person so crudely. No person should be molded into being someone they are not. It is unfair to treat a loved one like an object instead of an equal human being. Unfortunately there are many women today who find themselves in the same position in Nora. Many of which do not have the strength to confront, and to pry themselves from grips of their abusers. It is possible that the greatest miracle will be Nora, out on her own, finding her true self.
Whereas one can see Mrs. Linde as mature and world-weary, one can easily read the character Nora as immature and childlike; one of the first examples of this immaturity and childishness can be found in the first few pages. Nora has come in from a day of shopping and in these excerpts we can see her child-like manner while interacting with her husband, Torvald:
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having