In this passage from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, the narrator describes the protagonist’s interaction pertaining to a recently killed wolf. For an unknown reason, this experience has a very deep, emotional effect on the protagonist. Throughout the text, McCarthy uses detailed diction to truly convey just how much this involvement meant to the main character. McCarthy also uses imagery to show the profound connection the protagonist feels with this dead wolf, this imagery is brought to life through polysendeton.
During the course of the central character’s interaction with this dead wolf, the details used by the narrator are particularly intimate, his “trousers stiff with blood.” He touches the “cold and perfect teeth.” The wolf’s “eye turned to the fire gave no light”, so the protagonists closes it and puts his hand upon her “bloodied forehead.” These normally dark images are described in such a beautiful way that truly translates the totality of the effect this tragic event had on the protagonist. The main character does not simply “hold” the wolf, he “cradles” her. This slight, yet highly effective choice in diction changes the meaning significantly, from simply holding the dead wolf without
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This association is conveyed through an abundance of imagery, as well as syntactical techniques. While cradling the wolf, he falls asleep “with his hands palm up” this allusion to Jesus either shows the main character’s true innocence in the death of the wolf or guilt for causing her death. When he touches her forehead and closes his eyes, he sees the wolf “running in the mountains” with “all nations of the possible world ordained by God” as if she were still alive. At this point in the passage, the narrator’s syntax is wordy and characterized by polysyndeton. This creates a stream of consciousness that emphasizes the narrator’s deep
It has been three years since humanity was still alive. The year is 2020; very few people are left in America. A great series of large volcanic eruptions covered the region. No one could have prepared for them, and not one person predicted these tragedies. The author, Cormac McCarthy, shows the enticing travel of a father and his son. They must travel south for warmth, fight the starvation they are facing, and never let their guard down. They will never know what insane people might be lurking around the corner.
With a self-confident tone, he refers to the American natives as “savage, devils” and compares their home to a devil’s home and their tactics to soldiers in Europe, all just to bring attention to the readers. Mary, on the other hand, represents natives as “ravenous beast” showing the typical symptoms from a survivor; anxiety and distress. She uses a prose with the absence of rhetorical ornamentation rejecting literary artifice, sending a clear message though with her own interpretation of things. With a clear binary opposition, good and evil can be found in the same human; she forgets that the Indian may have a reason for the attacks. Edward; however, writes his sermons in a crescendo tone presenting them from a negative point of view provoking a reaction using biblical allusions. Words such as “Hell” and “Torture” are used to awaken the congregation and to provoke a reaction. His sermons are full of imagery, similes, comparisons and metaphors which can be interpreted in different
“ The horizon was the color of milk. Cold and fresh. Poured out among the bodies” (Zusak 175). The device is used in the evidence of the quote by using descriptives words that create a mental image. The text gives the reader that opportunity to use their senses when reading the story. “Somehow, between the sadness and loss, Max Vandenburg, who was now a teenager with hard hands, blackened eyes, and a sore tooth, was also a little disappointed” (Zusak 188). This quote demonstrates how the author uses descriptive words to create a mental image which gives the text more of an appeal to the reader's sense such as vision. “She could see his face now, in the tired light. His mouth was open and his skin was the color of eggshells. Whisker coated his jaw and chin, and his ears were hard and flat. He had a small but misshapen nose” (Zusak 201). The quotes allows the reader to visualize what the characters facial features looked like through the use of descriptive words. Imagery helps bring the story to life and to make the text more exciting. The reader's senses can be used to determine the observations that the author is making about its characters. The literary device changes the text by letting the reader interact with the text by using their observation skills. The author is using imagery by creating images that engages the reader to know exactly what's going on in the story which allows them to
Nearly everyone is familiar with the character of Christ. While understandings of Christ as a figure of faith may vary, he is universally recognized as a historical figure. The world knows that Christ was called “Son of God,” he called people to love, and he died a painful death on the cross. He has become such an important figure that images of him show up frequently in literature. Thomas Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, outlines a wide range of characteristics common in Christ-like figures. In his list of descriptors, Foster suggests characters might be Christ figures if they have wounds reminiscent of the crucifixion, suffer in agony, or are self-sacrificing—and this is only the beginning of his list (126). Readers repeatedly identify Christ figures in literature, both because of the well-known characteristics Foster describes in his chapter on Christ figures and because readers find them through their own understandings. In Yu Hua’s
In the first two lines, an aural image is employed to indicate a never-ending anger in the girl's father. Dawe uses onomatopoeia to create a disturbing and upsetting description of his enraged "buzz-saw whine." An annoying, upsetting sound, it gives the impression of lasting ceaselessly. His anger "rose /murderously in his throat." Because "murderously" begins on a new line, a greater emphasis is placed on it and its evil and destructive connotations. An image of a growling lion stalking its prey is evoked in the reader, as it threateningly snarls from its throat. The girl is terrified as it preys on her persistently "throughout the night." Furthermore, because there is no punctuation, these few lines are without a rest, and when reading out aloud, they cause breathlessness. This suggests that the father's "righteous" fury is ceaseless and suffocating the girl.
One night he sprang from sleep with a start, eager-eyed, nostrils quivering and scenting, his mane bristling in recurrent waves. From the forest came the call(or one note of it, for the call was many noted), distinct and definite as never before—a long-drawn howl, like, yet unlike, any noise made by husky dog. And he knew it, in the old familiar way, as for as sound heard before. He sprang through the sleeping camp and in swift silence dashed through the woods. As he drew closer to the cry
Many find reverence and respect for something through death. For some, respect is found for something once feared. In a passage from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, a man cares for a wolf that has died. The prominent religious motif and the paradox contrasting beauty and terror create a sense of awe that is felt by the narrator as he cares for the wolf.
Although the townspeople are convinced that werewolves make a pact with the Devil, Carter suggests that they are really connected to God. She echoes the Romantic notion of locating the divine in nature, even the parts of nature that are not traditionally beautiful. In a way, Carter tells us through this story that we are all part "beast," and are only authentically ourselves or close to Christ-Christianity's ideal being-when we claim our "bestial"
One of the literary techniques most prominently featured throughout the passage would be that of imagery. The author takes great care to interweave sentences comparing the traits
Piper’s use of imagery in this way gives the opportunity for the reader to experience “first hand” the power of words, and inspires the reader to be free from the fear of writing.
...ttachment or emotion. Again, Heaney repeats the use of a discourse marker, to highlight how vividly he remembers the terrible time “Next morning, I went up into the room”. In contrast to the rest of the poem, Heaney finally writes more personally, beginning with the personal pronoun “I”. He describes his memory with an atmosphere that is soft and peaceful “Snowdrops and Candles soothed the bedside” as opposed to the harsh and angry adjectives previously used such as “stanched” and “crying”. With this, Heaney is becoming more and more intimate with his time alone with his brother’s body, and can finally get peace of mind about the death, but still finding the inevitable sadness one feels with the loss of a loved one “A four foot box, a foot for every year”, indirectly telling the reader how young his brother was, and describing that how unfortunate the death was.
With fewer than fifty published poems Elizabeth Bishop is not one of the most prominent poets of our time. She is however well known for her use of imagery and her ability to convey the narrator?s emotions to the reader. In her vividly visual poem 'The Fish', the reader is exposed to a story wherein the use of language not only draws the reader into the story but causes the images to transcend the written work. In the poem, Bishop makes use of numerous literary devices such as similes, adjectives, and descriptive language. All of these devices culminate in the reader experiencing a precise and detailed mental image of the poem's setting and happenings.
Through the story Simon acted as the Christ Figure. The death of Simon symbolized the loss of religious reasoning. As the boys killed Simon they had let out their savage urges and acted in a cannibalistic manor. Even after the death of Simon Jack and his tribe did not feel any penitence to what they had done, killing to them had become second nature.The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe."Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" (Golding 141).In this quote a figure had crawled out of the forest and the ring had opened to let it inside. Mistaken as the beast by the Jack's tribe, Simon was beaten to death. After the group disbanded for shelter from the storm. The storm subsided and the tides moved in and out, Simon's body was washed to sea. Here because of the storm, the darkness and fear the boys became hysterical. They acted savagely not knowing what they were doing. The boys did not take a second look to what their actions were. They had let their malicious urges control them. He cam-disguised. He may come again even though we gave him the head of our kill to eat. So watch; and be careful (Golding 148). Here Jack is warning his tribe about the beast. Not caring or taking any notice to what had taken place with Simon. Jack or his tribe does not feel any remorse for the murder they had committed, whether they realized that or not. To Jack and his tribe what they had done was a pretentious accomplishment. A death could go by their eyes blindly.
Through the use of imagery, Conrad illustrates what he feels and leaves the reader in suspense. "In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits" (65). His choice of words paints a perfect picture in which it engages the reader into the work.