Phony and Nice Worlds in Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut
Salinger expresses his view of the world through his use of "phony" and "nice" worlds. Salinger uses the "phony" and "nice" worlds to express his pessimistic view of the world. Although "phony" and "nice" worlds exist in many of Salinger's stories, "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" is perhaps the best story to illustrate the difference between "phony" and "nice" worlds. "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" is one of the few stories which offers views of both "phony" and "nice" worlds in relatively few pages.
The action of "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" takes place in the living room of the protagonist, Eloise. Eloise is reminiscing about her past with her friend Mary Jane. "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" is divided into three scenes. In the first scene, we see Eloise as she is; in the second, we learn what she has been in the past; in the third, we witness her sudden recognition of what has happened to her.
The contrasting worlds are epitomized in the title of the story. Uncle Wiggly is a reference to children's stories about a whimsical rabbit. Connecticut is the chosen gathering place of the phony Madison Avenue exurbanites (French 22).
The protagonist of "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut", Eloise, has experienced both the "phony" and the "nice" worlds. The "phony" world is the world into which we have the best view because Eloise is essentially living in a "phony" world. Eloise is stranded in a loveless marriage and uses alcohol to drink away her sorrows. Eloise's husband, Lew, is one of the Madison Avenue exurbanites and is a stark contrast to Eloise's first husband. Eloise is very critical of Lew and everything that he does. The phoniness of Connecticut has transformed Eloise from the nice woman she was to the cruel, pessimistic woman she is now. Eloise realizes how far she has fallen near the end of the story. Eloise has scolded her daughter and chastised the maid when she reaches her epiphany. Eloise asks her friend "I was a nice girl, wasn't I" (Nine Stories 38).
The "nice" world is now only a distant memory to Eloise. Eloise reflects happily about her time with her first husband, Walt. Walt was a GI, one of the Glass twins, and far from the egotistical Madison Avenue businessman (French 22). Eloise remarks that Walt was the only man who could make her laugh.
J.D Salinger gives his personal vision of the world successfully through his persona Holden Caulfield in the ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Caulfield struggles with the background of New York to portray Salinger’s theme – you must live the world as it is, not as you would like it to be. There by exposing Salinger’s vision on the world.
In “A Half-Pint of Old Darling”, by Wendell Berry, being honest is an important factor in a relationship. Miss Minnie and Ptolemy Proudfoot are a prime example as such when they keep secrets from one another, but then fix some things with the truth. They head over a major road bump that is eventually solved after being honest with one another. It seemingly makes their relationship stronger when the story concludes. Most of the secrets are kept in fear of hurting the other, which ends up happening one day when Tol sneaks Old Darling alcohol into their buggy. It is seen that hiding the truth means one is not being honest to his or her self, as well as to another. In this story, secrets leave speculation as to just how well Miss Minnie and Ptolemy Proudfoot’s relationship really is, and if things end up changing after a huge mistake.
Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes is a novel about an African-American boy’s coming of age during the early 20th century. The narrative takes us through the childhood and adolescent years of the quiet and intelligent Sandy Rogers. Just as any other child, Sandy is greatly influenced by the people he meets, the places he goes to, and his experiences in different situations as a black child who is looked down upon in a dominantly white hegemony. Though all the people we meet in life affect us in some way, it is a common fact that those who are closest to us, our constant companions, are the driving forces that shape how we turn out to be as adults. In this narrative, two characters who influence Sandy in a great way are Aunt Hager and Aunt Tempy. Aunt Hager is his maternal grandmother who is the center of Sandy’s life for a majority of the time in the story. She provides for him and becomes his guardian when his lovelorn mother leaves him to be reunited with her husband, Jimboy Rogers. Aunt Tempy is a maternal aunts who is merely a distant and foreboding presence in Sandy’s life until the death of Aunt Hager, where she fills in the vacuum of his guardianship. Therefore, in Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes, the two characters Aunt Hager and Aunt Tempy contribute to the protagonist’s coming of age by influencing his morals and his education, and thus, his character.
This passage comes from the fourth chapter in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. George and the other workers are “gone into town” (69). Lennie, Crooks and Candy are the only men remaining on the ranch. This excerpt characterizes Crooks and promotes the themes of loneliness and dreams. In addition, this passage characterizes Lennie and reinforces the theme of companionship.
Salinger, J. D.. The Catcher in the Rye. [1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 19511945. Print.
Zeise, A. (1998). A to Z’s Home’s Cool Homeschooling. Retrieved April 6, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/083198.htm
Grant Wiggins is the narrator of the novel. He was born in the plantation just outside of Bayonne, Louisiana. He lived there until he went away to college, and when he went back home, he was detached from the people in the town because of his education and different religious beliefs. He is easily angered and often very selfish. This is seen in the way that he acts towards Vivian. He consistently does not give her the attention or respect that she deserves. He refers to her children as simply, “the babies,” and only cares about the names of his and Vivian’s future children. Grant goes from shallow and selfish at the beginning of the story, to caring and loving at the end.
Wildermuth, April. "Nonconformism in the Works of J.D. Salinger." 1997 Brighton High School. 24 November 2002. <http://ww.bcsd.org/BHS/english/mag97/papers/Salinger.htm>
Born on January 1, 1919, Jerome David Salinger was to become one of America’s greatest contemporary authors. In 1938 Salinger briefly attended Ursinus College in Pennsylvania where he wrote a column, "Skipped Diploma," which featured movie reviews for his college newspaper. Salinger made his writing debut when he published his first short story, "The Young Folks," in Whit Burnett’s Story magazine (French, xiii). He was paid only twenty-five dollars. In 1939, at the age of 20, Salinger had not acquired any readers. He later enrolled in a creative writing class at Columbia University. Salinger was very much interested in becoming an actor and a playwright, which was quite odd because he would later in life become a recluse (Wenke, 3). Salinger adjusted his writing style to fit the literary marketplace. He was writing for money and began writing for magazines like Good Housekeeping and Mademoiselle. Many of Salinger’s characters have unique character traits. "Salinger presents a number of stories that consider characters who become involved in degrading, often phony social contexts," states a major critic (Wenke, 7). These characters are often young and have experienced a lot of emotional turmoil. They have been rejected by society and mainly categorized as "misfits." This alienation of the personality is often viewed as a sign of weakness by society when in fact the outcasts ultimately gain strength from their experiences as shown in Nine Stories, The Catcher in the Rye, and Franny and Zooey. Salinger is telling a tale of the human condition in its reality through his novels. Nine Stories is a collection of short stories of people who are uncertain of the next path to take in life. They are lonely, needy, and searching for love. One of these stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," is the story of a young couple who try to understand their life together and the true meaning of love. Seymour Glass has just been released from the Army Hospital and he is unable to adjust to life with his "crass wife Muriel amidst the lavish and vulgar atmosphere of their post-war second honeymoon" (Gwynn & Blotner, 19). It has often been called "the loveless tunnel of love." Salinger portrays Muriel in the first part of the story as superficial. ...
Of all characters, Bradbury uses Mildred Montag to effectively portray the idea that the majority of society has taken happiness as a refuge in nothing but passive, addictive entertainment. She immediately reveals her character early in the book, by saying, “My family is people. They tell me things: I laugh. They laugh! And the colors!” (73). Mildred is describing her parlors, or gigantic wall televisions, in this quote. Visual technological entertainment is so important in her life that she refers them to as “family,” implying the television characters as her loved ones. By immersing herself in an imaginary world, Mildred finds herself able to relate to fake characters and plots, giving her a phony sense of security. This is necessary for her to achieve her shallow happiness, or senseless plain fun, as she lifelessly watches other people in her walls with a senseless mind. Her family in real life only consists of Guy Montag, her husband, whom she has no fond feelings about. Montag is so frustrated with Mildred because of her inability to express feelings for ...
In restless sleep and longing for contact with those outside of Bly-- particularly her employer-- the governess placed hope in chance meetings of random individuals. In her walk in the yard, the governess began to wish for the sight of her employer who she was still madly in love with. The governess's desire to see him and receive his reassuring approval conceived the ghost of what was later revealed to be Peter Quint she believed she had seen. Later in her climax of interaction with her ghosts, the governess is afraid that the master will come home, for she is fearful of what he will think of her.
Salerno, Shane, dir. Salinger. American Masters. PBS, 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
Education is one of the most important platforms needed for people to achieve their long term goals involving a career. Without education, people would not receive the right knowledge they need in order for them to get a job they are passionate about. Students working toward these goals are presented with many options of education including public school, private school, and homeschooling in order to learn the information they need. When parents choose homeschooling for their child, they are taking risks in many aspects because homeschooling is a much different environment and learning experience than attending a real school. As of right now, anyone in the United States is allowed to homeschool their child, but should the government allow that? Not all homeschooled children are receiving the same quality of education that public and private schools offer. Although the proposal to completely outlaw homeschooling is out of the question, Laws or rules should be in place as to who or under what conditions a person may be homeschooled. Homeschooling can limit a child’s productivity, opportunities, and decreases the chances to learn social skills, proving that unless there are extenuating circumstances, children should attend regular school on a daily basis rather than be homeschooled.
Two of the main characters, Jack and Algernon, strive to be "Ernest" and "Earnest" in the play, yet they both deceive others to escape lives which they grow tired of. They both hope to marry the girls that they love, yet they are starting the relationship based on false pretence and lies. It is ironic that they both call themselves "Ernest," a name that suggests honesty and sincerity, yet they both create stories to escape something or the other. Jack creates a brother called "Ernest" in the city that he uses as a scape goat' to leave his prim and proper, respectable country life, whereas Algernon creates a friend by the name of "Bunbury" to escape his aunt's high class society parties. He shows his lack of interest in such social events when he tells Jack.
Many parents have criticized homeschooling, claiming that homeschooling provides a negative effect on the students’ social life, and trains them to be more secluded from the rest of the “outside world”. However, in an analysis posted by Widener Law Review titled “Homeschooling: Constitutional Analysis in Light of Social Science Research:”, research has shown that “homeschooled students score as well as or better than traditionally schooled children on widely used measures of social development.” In the article, the authors go into development as to just how much the homeschooled students excel vs. the students of traditional schools. In terms of the job life, “Homeschooled adults are also well prepared to participate in the economic realm. They have entrepreneurial skills and make desirable employees”. What this means is that although many critics attack the ideals of homeschooling, there is solid foundation for parents to stand on when deciding their best course of