The poem “The Hospital Window” was written by American poet James Dickey near the beginning of his writing career. It was initially published by the Wesleyan University Press in a book of his poems called Helmets. Though it was first published in 1964, it has been republished in several other books of Dickey’s poems since then. The poem is written from the perspective of a first person narrator who is just leaving his ill father at the hospital. The narrator makes several references to his father ascending as he is walking down the stairs from him, and even ascending after he reaches the ground. He also provides vivid imagery of his bodily reactions as he is walking away from the hospital, alluding to the death of his father. All of these detail …show more content…
At first, they may seem to be literal details and nothing more, but the repeated usage indicates otherwise. It is possible that Dickey employed such words as references to some sort of spiritual connection, as words like “ascend” can have spiritualistic connotations. There are many different religions that believe in various forms of an afterlife and heaven that Dickey may have been alluding to. He even references heaven in the poem at one point, saying, “all the white rooms/ They turn to the color of Heaven.” These descriptions and repetitions could be an indication that the narrator in the story is at peace with his father dying because he has faith that one day they will meet again. Another piece of evidence to support this interpretation is a quote from the narrator as he was blocking the roadway, in which he said, “I hold each car in its place/ For miles, inciting its horn/ To blow down the walls of the world/ That the dying may float without fear.” It seems that the narrator may be begging for the opportunity to stay with his father longer, or better yet, be with him forever, beyond the capability of our mortal
When Lee first introduced his readers, he started off with a beautiful metaphor to summarize how every human’s life goes as he wrote, “We are circuit boards swallowing the electricity of life upon birth,” (Lines 2 to 3, Lee). To clarify, Lee is explaining the beauty of life when we are alive and how we essentially use this electricity to create unforgettable memories along with emphasizing the importance of existing. However, not long into the poem, a sudden change in the emotion occurs as Lee depicted Stephen’s death with, “…as though his chest were an auditorium his life an audience leaving single file,” (Lines 24 to 25, Lee). In consideration with how the main lesson Lee was applying on his poem, it is easily visible that this sudden change in mood was done purposefully. With this dark simile, readers will be captured and feel that sudden shock in mixed emotion when someone’s death occurs. In effect, not only will readers who have seen death understand, but Lee also taught readers who have not seen a similar event what will happen, allowing any reader to understand the topic even without any past experiences. Quickly after though, Lee re-introduces a cheerful environment with similes to describe the people he has found as he visualized, “…his lungs flapping like sails,” and, “…teeth shinning like
“Like cattle bought for slaughter.” this simile reveals the awful and crowded conditions that the immigrants are experiencing. The third stanza tells us about the family groups and that they huddled together with blankets ‘Families stood with blankets’ with the parents having to keep a close eye on their children ‘Keeping children by their sides’. ‘Watching pigeons that watched them’ this suggests that the immigrants are fascinated by the natural wildlife, it could be a metaphor for the local people at the station who just stare at the immigrants as they wait for their train. The fourth stanza portrays the fear and uncertainty of these immigrants and also reveals the impact of the whistle. “It was sad to hear” this is the repetition of the opening line of the poem. It seems like this journey was a forced journey that is controlled by man made machines “like a word of command” this represents the whistle, “like a guillotine” the use of simile suggests being cut off a kind of death as a guillotine is an instrument of
He is opposed to the family sitting by the bed and watching Addie die and cash sawing away at Anse's coffin. But at the same time, he tells Darl to shut up when Darl raises an objection to the three-dollar trip Addie tells them to make. Imagery is an integral part of any narrative. The multiple narratives and cross observations made in As I Lay Dying are complex and they consist of many spectrums. Imagery alone can be sufficient to give the reader a rich sense of emotion, but when it symbolizes the themes of the story and reflects on the characteristics of the narrator, it is truly a masterpiece.
...nd the narrator supports him by listening to the music which seems to provide solace for suffering souls. This shows a new bond that has been created.
The father eating the raw human heart because “he understood that if his daughter [eats] this sandwich she would die” (p. 2) symbolizes his willingness to sacrifice his life for hers. It’s no coincidence that the blood transfusion between the father and daughter in the hospital occurs at the same time as this dream. The daughter’s reaction in his dream is also no coincidence. As soon as the father lets his guard down, “she [spins] into the room like a whirlwind, a tornado, howling, shaking everything around her and then [sinks] her nails into the crook of his right arm, breaking his skin” (p. 3). Her violent behavior warns of the dire consequences of attempting to manipulate death. The destructive imagery portrays the daughter’s life destroying the possibility of the father’s life, dooming him to death. At this point of the story, the father dies and is a ghost from here on out. When the father awakes in the evening, “He [reaches] the stairs unnoticed and [begins] descending the cold stone steps, like a ghost (p.4). The text indicates the father’s actions have all the attributes of a ghost. When a man approaches the father asking about what he is doing, the father replies, “I’m from the morgue” (p.4). What used to be a forbidden territory, he is now referring to as his home. Likewise, the father also adds “I came to life, and there was no one around” (p. 5) to their conversation. The father
Reading and understanding literature is not as easy as it sounds. Being able to dissect each piece of information and connect it to the overall theme of the story takes lots of rereading and critical thinking. Reading the story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” takes lots of critical thinking and understanding the literature in a different point of view than the average reader would. The theme of this particular story quickly came to mind after initially concluding the reading, the author is trying to convey that nobody can escape death and how thoughts in the mind are so substantial in the consciousness that it can take over the reality. The author comes to this theme by incorporating specific literary elements such a symbol, irony, and narration. These are important because they make up the theme by bringing the necessary elements together.
His brain seems to be fixated on death, consciously and unconsciously. He talks about it as well as dreams about it. It is particularly interesting that when he dreams, he dies in his dream, and that it is caused by his girlfriend. In his dream, they “fell in love and tried to keep it a secret.” But they got caught “fucking in the barn” and the narrator got shot. At the end of the dream, he died and his “soul drifted above the reservation. During this out of body experience, he “could see everything that was happening. Whites killing Indians and Indians killing whites” (186). When you dream of your own death, it often means that you are anxious or angry. However when you dream of your own death, it usually means that you are letting go of an old stage in your life.(SmartGirl) Similar to how soon after having these dreams, the narrator left his girlfriend and Seattle and went back home to the reservation. However, when you die slowly as the narrator did in the first dream he tells us about, it means that you need to reenergize your life. (SmartGirl) It is clear that the narrator definitely needs to change something that is going on in his life, so this is true for him. He has another dream in which “three mounted soldiers played polo with a dead Indian woman’s head” (186). When the death of a loved one appears in a dream, it can suggest that you are lacking a certain
This is representative of the fact that he stays strong by his ability to help, and as soon as he starts to be unable to support his family, he can no longer survive, ultimately leading up to his
His altered state of consciousness was a necessity to regain control of is his life, where he got the necessary break from not only work, but also family expectations. Just like the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the emotional tendencies are evident throughout the whole story; however, at the end when he dies in this new state, he is finally content with his life and the conflicts are resolved between his priorities and his families.
Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
His interactions with the personification of Death allow viewers to directly
I woke up to the pungent smell of hospital disinfect, invading my nostrils. The room was silent apart from my heavy breathing and the beep beep sound you often hear in hospitals that indicates you're alive. I slowly opened my eyes, squinting in attempt to sharpen the blurred images before me. I glanced around and took in the deserted, blue and white colour schemed hospital bedroom. How long have I been here? I shut my eyes, trying to remember what had exactly happened. Then it all hits me with a bang. The memory of it all starts to occupy my thoughts.
Though on the surface it seems like the speaker is succeeding at trying to “kill” her dead father, the sounds and use of repetition
I went to the operating room on March 23, 2016 for the Wilkes Community College Nursing Class of 2017 for observation. Another student and I were assigned to this unit from 7:30am-2:00pm. When we got their we changed into the operating room scrubs, placed a bonnet on our heads and placed booties over our shoes. I got to observe three different surgeries, two laparoscopic shoulder surgeries and one ankle surgery. While cleaning the surgical room for the next surgery, I got to communicate with the nurses and surgical team they explained the flow and equipment that was used in the operating room.
The song accomplishes such a thing by taking the approach of a man who knows he is dying, and who takes a nice approach to it. Before the man dies and gets to experience the beauty of heaven, he explains to his loved ones that he doesn't want them to cry for him when he is gone but rather be happy for him. Images of different seasons of the year to explain the process of growing older. Images that depict the fading of light in a persons soul transforming into darkness. Images that the reader can perceive as vivid actions.