In "Ralph the Duck", Frederick Busch, the author, uses each of the characters to convey a deeper meaning. Even the most insignificant of characters has some form of symbolism behind them. Busch is definitely using the characters to explain some deeper meaning. To be more precise, Busch is using each of the characters to convey some aspect relating to the narrator.
The first character that Busch uses as a symbol is the narrator's dog. The dog appears to symbolize the narrator's current destructive lifestyle. After the dog has been vomiting, the narrator thinks, "He loves what makes him sick" (Busch 865). Like the dog, the narrator shows an apparent lack of concern for the condition of his own health. He seems to be in a constant state of fatigue, most likely due to the fact that he barely sleeps. Several times throughout the story he consumes large amounts of alcohol. For example, the narrator has "a king-sized drink composed of sourmash whiskey and ice" (Busch 867) with his dinner. Later in the story, one of the first things he does after he gets home from school is make himself "a dark drink of sourmash" (Busch 870). The final instance of alcohol is that the narrator is driving around in snowy weather with "a thermos of sourmash and hot coffee" (Busch 871). This also symbolizes the fact that the narrator is imposing his condition upon himself.
Fanny, the narrator's wife, reminds the narrator of what he used to be. More specifically, when he sees and talks to Fanny, the narrator remembers his daughter and the life he had. This would explain why he is so distant when speaking to his wife, when he does speak to her at all, that is. The narrator even fell asleep when he took Fanny out to the movies. In the narrator's words: "I fell asleep, and I'm afraid I snored" (Busch 869).
Busch uses the narrator's English professor to represent the ignorant people that always stereotype Vietnam War veterans as somewhat less than human. The narrator obviously despises the professor and pokes fun at him the entire story. The narrator definitely sees his professor as unintelligent. When he has to jump start his professor's car, the narrator thinks to himself "But he couldn't get a Buick going on an ice-cold night, and he didn't know enough to look for cells going bad" (Busch 866).
These boys represent good intentions in the novel, but in our existence, we are fortunate to have incredible citizens who are comparable to the characters. Ralph symbolizes our parents, they always have the best intentions for the children they have made although, we may not appreciate the little things they do for us such as purchase food for our stomachs , provide a roof over our heads and love us unconditionally. Simon is represented through people who aid others because it is from the goodness of their
The narrator’s insecurities unfold when it takes him almost five pages just to demonstrate how close the friendship is between his wife and Robert. It is as though he is justifying his irrational behavior or perhaps questioning if his wife could be secretly in love with Robert. The narrator assumes this because his wife only writes poems if something really important happens to her. He recalls that his wife never forgot that instant when Robert "touched his fingers to every part of her face...
Thesis: In this anti-war novel, Vonnegut, showed the negative sides of war using characterization, symbolism, plot, point of view, and motif. In the first chapter alone the author shows many signs of his writing being an anti-war story. One of the first signs is used with characterization of other characters. This was effective considering he showed the effects of war on the veterans. For example, O’Hare couldn’t drink after the war and I believe Vonnegut made a point to express the effects to add to the anti-war theme. This is also shown in the point of view by him being able to express his experiences. The author also showed by his characterization that war changed him from a young boy to a man that had seen horrific
...e of the meanings to be determined by the reader, but clearly conveys the meaning behind others. Such variety provides something or someone for any reader to relate to. Symbolism, hidden or obvious, serves to connect the reader with the characters of “The Things They Carried” and follow their development with interest and ease. In many cases, symbols answer the question which the entire story is based upon, why the men carry the things they do.
“I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit. But he said I wasn’t able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there,” she isn’t even able to visit others because John believes it will make her more “sick” (Gilman 453). The narrator doesn’t have any control of her life, John is constantly telling her what to do and what medicine to take, he also carries her around and up to her bedroom where she spends most of her time. Between John’s need to dominate his wife, and the narrator’s naiveness their marriage is one similar to Edna’s and Mr. Pontellier’s. Both marriages hindered the wives’ choices towards themselves and kept them trapped inside the marriage and their homes, but the difference between Edna and the narrator is that Edna escapes Mr. Pontellier through the “pigeon house” and later
What is the definition of a hero? A hero is an ordinary person who finds strength to persevere and endure, in spite of, overwhelming obstacles. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Ralph, a ordinary 12 year old boy, is elected chief over an island with no adults and no way home. Ralph is considered a hero because he makes difficult choices for the group and overcomes many obstacles , such as keeping the fire going. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus, a king of Ithaca, is called to battle in Troy and faces many challenging creatures on his way home such as Cyclops, Calypso, being turned into pigs, and many more. Odysseus is a hero because he perseveres and overcomes the obstacles and makes it home to his family.
Dr. Seuss is amazing at using Figurative Language in “The Cat In the Hat”. Dr.Seuss uses personification
The great debate throughout all of the novel, Lord of the Flies, was that of finding out who was the best leader for the boys. Some thought that Jack was a better leader, and others stuck with Ralph until their death. So after all is said and done, who truly is the best leader? I firmly believe the easy answer here is that Ralph was clearly best fit to be leader because he was the most orderly and leader-like boy on the island.
In my opinion Ralph is the most effective leader in LOTF because he is fearless, organized, and powerful.
In literature, as in life, people struggle with the principles and beliefs they hold. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Ralph represents order, civilization, and leadership. On the island, Ralph is conflicted with his principles and beliefs that he has acquired over the years of living in a civilized and humane world and is caught between holding on to them or submitting to the barbarism that seems to have taken over the other boys.
Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.
The narrator is a very jealous man, and is not very happy that his wife’s blind friend is coming to visit, “[a] blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver). This shows how shallow the narrator is. Even though this blind man is a very close friend to the narrator’s wife the narrator is too jealous. He does not even try to build a relationship with his wife’s friend, which is only a start in showing how dysfunctional the marriage is. Even though the narrator is supposed to love and try to get along with her friends he does not make the effort of even trying to accept her friend coming over for a short visit. To further show how the narrator’s relationship with his wife is strained they argue about her friend coming to stay with them, “[i]f you love me," she said, "you can do this for me. If you don't love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend c...
One of the first elements that Hemingway uses to communicate his central theme is dialogue. Throughout the story, the central focus is put onto the main character, the old man. The reader learns that through a series of many unfortunate events that the old man is deaf, has no family, and is frequently drunk. The reader is also introduced to two other characters which are referred to as the younger waiter and the older waiter. The first instance of despair is directed towards the old man. As the younger waiter is serving the old man he claims, “You should have killed yourself last week” (143). This episode shows that the old man is in a constant state of desperation. The statement is able to evoke compassion from the reader because it is clear that the old man feels as if his life is meaningless. Unlike the old man, the younger waiter has a wife, a set of values, and he is living the life that has been granted to him. As the younger waiter is anticipating to leave he expresses his feelings to the older waiter saying, “He’s lonely. I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me” (144). This...
Marie de France uses several symbolic objects in her stories to get the point across. Sometimes what is the simplest object can have a thousands meanings. Whether you're talking about trees to the color of an article of clothing, there was a reason, a purpose for making it a weeping willow or a red scarf. You need to look deep within the story line and fine it's true meaning. In Yonec, Laustic and Milun, see the usage of birds, especially that of a swan. But why use birds? For the reasons that birds symbolize so many things such as love and romance, purity and redemption and forgiveness and the chance to start over.
firstly, we can say that he had a good childhood. he loved his pets. but slowly as he grew old, may be because of some unfortunate events of failures, he started getting a feeling of emptiness in him and so he turned towards alcohol to fill this emptiness or to forget about all the bad things. the narrator also calls it a devil's act(feind intemperance). it was this alcohol that made him abuse his pets and slowly his wife.but when his own cat, who use to once love him, ignored him and scratched him in self defence he lost his mind. "The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame". by saying this he is discribing how he wasnt thinking properly. he had lost his rational thinking.he's lost himself(soul take its flight from his body)and no longer is in control of himself. and the alcohol that was running through him body was taking control of his body. this imagery explains perfectly what was going throught his mind at that moment. the readers can actually feel the insanity going on his mind. this is not something that a third person would have been able to discribe or experience and thus even the readers wouldnt have been able to understand his insane state of mind. so the 1st person narration plays an important role in explaning this plot of the story.