Just Roll With It
The word “evolution” typically refers to the process of a species of animal adapting to its environment through natural selection. When faced with a challenge, such as decreased food supply or a changing habitat, the species must change its behavior or die. The environment “selects” for the individual organisms most suited to the new environment, while the others perish. In some cases, a new species eventually emerges. Humans are occasionally faced with challenges as well and must adapt and persevere in order to “evolve” with their changing situations. In the short story “Learning to Drive” Ron Rindo describes how a man must evolve to his new situation after he loses a leg to cancer. The story begins with the protagonist
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The car motif appears in several locations throughout the story, most notably at the beginning and end. The very first page of the story includes Elain driving the car in order to transport her husband home from the hospital. This shows that Elaine has begun to take more of the family responsibility, as well as her ability to cope with the tragedy that has struck the family. The motif appears a second time when the narrator describes how he taught his children to drive. He becomes discouraged by the fact that he was the one who initially taught the other family members to drive, but he has now become helpless, and a burden on his family. The motif appears a final time in the last line of the story when the narrator describes how he is learning to drive again. This represents his final acceptance of his lot in life and the fact that he has made peace with himself and can learn to cope. The car motif is not the only element used to illustrate the theme. Rindo also uses symbolism to demonstrate a theme of perseverance. Examples of this occur throughout the story; the most obvious one appears when the narrator describes the cars parked outside his house. A rusted white hearse belongs to Neon, Sarah's boyfriend. The car has a purple decoration on the side; the color purple is often used to represent cancer. The two symbols, combined, suggest that death will come suddenly, accompanied by cancer. Rindo includes another example of symbolism in one of the gifts given to the narrator, a puzzle which displays the Statue of Liberty while under construction, covered in scaffolding and braces; these metal supports could symbolize the crutches and the prosthetic leg that the narrator relies on. Symbolism appears a final time when the narrator mentions the black spots that mar the kitchen
Often times, an inanimate object can be as important and sometimes more important than the characters of the story. In Louise Erdrich's "The Red Convertible," the car played an equally important role with that of the characters, but for different reasons.
One of the main symbols in the story is the red convertible itself. It symbolizes the relationship between the two brothers, and how it brings them closer throughout the story. The color of the convertible is also very symbolic. Since the two boys are Native American, the red convertible is supposed to represent their skin color. Both boys trade ownership of the vehicle throughout the story, but ultimately the car ends up in Lyman 's possession. As was stated before, the car
A key symbol in this story is the red convertible. The vehicle as a whole symbolizes the strong bond that was once held between the brothers. The color red has many different meanings. In some Native American cultures the color red means beauty, faith and happiness but sometimes it means blood, violence, and energy. Within the story there were two brothers that loved each other dearly. They had love for each other and everything was great between them. One day Henry lost his job and his brother Lyman had already had money saved up and they went to Winnipeg to get away and there they saw the car, the red convertible. Since both of the brothers were so close, they decided to buy the car. Both brothers loved the car just as much as they loved each other. The color of the car symbolized the love these two had for each other because the color was bright and vibrant and the car represents the strength of the actually bond between these two. After they made their trip to Alaska the car needed repairs. At the same time Henry was called to serve his country. When the car needed repairs, so did the relationship between the brothers. When Henry returned, he was not well and suffered from PTSD.
The next symbol was the corpse that the narrator encountered in the river after the events with Bobby transpired. The narrator encountering the corpse in the lake was significant because it was a visual representation of not only the river but also death. The corpse was a representation of the river; Greasy Lake was a place filled with death, danger, and destruction. Additionally, his encounter with the corpse drew him to the realization that “…life and sin inevitably lead one to: the corpse, death” (Vannatta). The narrator’s encounter with Bobby and the woman he was with, display the sins of: pride, lust, and greed. During his submersion in the lake, the protagonist was able to perceive and understand that these sins cannot accompany him towards his path to adulthood. One can notice that the narrator is not necessarily a “bad” guy, rather he is one who is confused and wants to relate to his friends Digby and Jeff. The realization of his true character was revealed whenever he was glad that Bobby was alive. The narrator could understand that there would be trouble and repercussions had he actually died from the tire iron. His true feelings were displayed when he said, “...I suddenly felt a rush of joy and vindication: the son of a bitch was alive!” (Boyle 574). The narrator felt the sudden rush of vindication because he was now clear of any blame or suspicion that would later impact
Symbolism is used commonly in literature to reveal a deeper meaning through something indirectly. As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, symbolism is “ the art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations” ("Symbolism."). From colors and emotions, such as red and romance, to animals, like doves and peace, symbols better a readers understanding of the text and make for an overall better story. Symbolism gives writer freedom to add double levels of meanings to his work: a literal one that is self-evident and the symbolic one whose meaning is far more profound than the literal one. The symbolism, therefore, gives universality to the characters and the themes of a piece of literature ("Literary Devices."). In the text, A Doll’s House, the author, Hendrik Ibsen, uses symbols of macaroons, the Tarantella, and money to reveal controversial topics between Nora and Torvad.
Throughout the entire novel, King emphasizes the attributes of the physical setting over everything else. The geographical location of Truth and Bright Water forms a border that many aboriginal residents find hard to overcome, including Tecumseh’s mother Helen. Helen is a romantic dreamer who would love to travel the world but never really has the financial means to do so. Truth and Bright Water both reside in remote prairie regions, so in order to travel to any of the ‘big cities’ is a struggle for the inhabitants. She was “thinking of leaving Bright Water and moving to Toronto or Vancouver” (151), but when Elvin heard “he got concerned”(151) and bought her a car, the Karmann Ghia, to please her. The Karmann Ghia is a symbol that has two different meanings; to Elvin the car is an anchor trying to hold back Helen, whereas Helen perceives a chance to break away. The sports car is given as a present for Helen in hopes she will stay happy in Truth and Bright Water if she has the ability to drive herself around. Elvin expects the car to hold back her wish to leave him and Bright Water by giving her hope she will one day, when the car is fixed up, have freedom. The Karmann Ghia to Helen is a ticking clock counting down to when she receives independence. The car also emphasizes the lazy habits of Elvin because of his procrastination. Generally, a sports car connotes a fast and steady speed, which is ironic because of Elvin’s slow pace in repairing it. This symbol is significant because it highlights the restrictive border of geographical location that holds aboriginal residents in Truth and Bright Water. Without freedom of transportation, the native inhabitants are trapped in one isolated
Symbolism is the use of a person, place, or thing to represent an idea or quality. In the story The Yellow Wallpaper is filled with symbolism the pattern of the wallpaper, the moonlight, and the house. The pattern of the yellow wallpaper can be seen as a cage. This can be why the narrator feels like she is trapped inside the wallpaper. The moonlight can symbolize the narrator because during the day she remains motionless due to her husband watching her and at night she creeps through the room and remains alert and awake. “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by...
Throughout the story, Walker uses brilliant imagery in describing each detail of what the mother sees through the eyes of her world. This imagery in turn creates a more interesting and imaginative story, and allows the reader to experience what the narrator is experiencing. The theme of imagery is not within the story, but how the story is told. However, the theme of love of one's family heritage is within the heart and not on the wall.
What is evolution and how does it work? Evolution is the theory of how one form of life changes into another form. Evolution also is the change in a population’s inherited traits from generation to generation. Evolution helps to explain why an animal, human, and plant looks the way it does and acts the way it does; it gives an explanation of the history of life. Genes come in many varieties, and the evolution helps to make it happen.
Another form of symbolism has to be the narrator's bus ride in New York. He hears a song being sung that he knows about a robin getting tied up and plucked. The narrator compares this to his situation with Dr Bledsoe writing the false recommendation letters, saying the narrator should never be accepted back into school. He feels foolish and notices that he's been bamboozled and tricked.... ...
The use of diction is powerful, with the gripping use of words and description. Golding creates tension and reinforces his theme and tone with the use of specific words. Many are connotative and therefore create a story abundant in meaning and symbolism. Golding uses colors such as pink to symbolize particular things such as innocence, as shown in the piglets and the island. The word yellow makes the reader think of the sun, enlightenment and Ralph; the words black and red bring to mind evil, blood and Jack.
Symbolism is commonly used by authors that make short stories. Guin is a prime example of how much symbolism is used in short stories such as “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and “Sur.” In both of these stories Guin uses symbolism to show hidden meanings and ideas. In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” there is a perfect Utopian city, yet in this perfect city there is a child locked in a broom closet and it is never let out. A few people leave the city when they find out about the child, but most people stay. Furthermore, in “Sur” there is a group of girls that travel to the South Pole and reach it before anyone else, yet they leave no sign or marker at the South Pole. Guin’s stories are very farfetched and use many symbols. Both “Sur” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” have many symbols such as colors, characters, objects, and weather. The four types of symbols that Guin uses help the readers understand the themes in her short stories. Although her stories are farfetched, they need symbolism in them or the reader would not understand the theme; therefore the symbols make Guin’s stories much more enjoyable.
According to Darwin and his theory on evolution, organisms are presented with nature’s challenge of environmental change. Those that possess the characteristics of adapting to such challenges are successful in leaving their genes behind and ensuring that their lineage will continue. It is natural selection, where nature can perform tiny to mass sporadic experiments on its organisms, and the results can be interesting from extinction to significant changes within a species. Human beings are no exception to biological evolution. Like other organisms around the world, humans have significantly changed over time and have developed all sorts of diverse characteristics.
The third symbol is the most important symbol of all and that is the ugly yellow wallpaper the narrator has to spend her time staring at and in the end g...
Evolution is the complexity of processes by which living organisms established on earth and have been expanded and modified through theorized changes in form and function. Human evolution is the biological and cultural development of the species Homo sapiens sapiens, or human beings. Humans evolved from apes because of their similarities. This can be shown in the evidence that humans had a decrease in the size of the face and teeth that evolved. Early humans are classified in ten different types of families.