Manipulation Of Comfort

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Recommended: Interpretation of As you like it shakespeare

“Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.”
Manipulation of the human condition, by where and with who contentment and satisfaction is found, is fabricated through experiences which dictate direction and purpose. William Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy, As You Like It (1611) explores individuals escaping a world poisoned by man’s inhumanity to man, to an ideal bliss where community thrives from the joyous aura circulating amongst people. Gillian Dawson’s short story, East Wind captures disconnection from place and people as a powerful driving force to find fulfilment. Further, the texts explore comfort and security spurring from the unexpected, revealing change in human nature at an instant.

Place acts as a supporting …show more content…

Being ‘lost’ in the city as a young child, initiated Michaels sense of comfort amongst the chaos and tall buildings. Repetition of “running away” from home, indicates his desperation to escape his discontentment; his desired fulfilment can only be satisfied in the city. Conversely, his parents personify the city as a foreign place “Alien city eyes,” somewhat surreal and unexplainable in comparison to the comfort of their suburban home. Despite this lack of understanding between mother and son, she unwillingly accepts the drug soaked city, as his place of true satisfaction, “I released him into the darkness where he belongs,” infers his wild, untameable nature, as the city has taken away his child-like innocence. However, Dawson expresses Michael’s liberation from the city that to his mother, is tainted by danger and the unknown. Thus, connection to place is personal, the urge to assimilate in a particular place can influence the subconscious mind to see morality in indecent …show more content…

Through an intimate maternal bond, Michaels mother experiences the consequences of Michaels decisions, weakening her to a debilitating state of grief. “Once he belonged to me”; “He was ours,” the repetition of these inclusive statements indicates her fulfilment from protecting her son and inability to find value in life without him. Through the cyclical narrative structure, it is evident that the loss and grief felt by the mother is continual and indeterminable. Dawson reveals death can bring out weakness and anger in self and with others. The use of words with negative connotations towards the end of the story, “Lonely,” “cold,” “dead,” enforce the mother’s grief and regressing nature. Thus, people who find contentment through others, cannot find fulfilment without the presence of that individual.

Significant experiences denote self-image about connection with place and people, transforming individual attitudes and purpose. It is evident through the analysis of Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ and Dawson’s ‘East Wind’ that connections influence someone’s beliefs and actions, to determine the type of person they are. However, human nature is not constant, thus through new experiences, virtues can evolve and adapt to find

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