What is success? According to the dictionary, it is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose, but theres much more to the word than just this simple phrase. As Eric Thomas—the American motivational speaker, author, and minister—once said “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful”. The idea of what success can bring, has motivated people throughout history to take risks and follow their dreams, no matter what the consequence is. Although achieving a long term goal or accomplishing an idea can be great, sometimes a person can lose themselves or hurt others around them during the process. As John Irving concocts his fascinating characters with their outrageous lives in The Hotel New Hampshire and The …show more content…
Early on in the novel, Win Berry already displays himself as a passionate entrepreneur who desires to make it in the business world. While trying to think in the future of success, the family got lost and things always seemed to go wrong. From a young age, Win wanted to run hotels with his wife, Mary, and he made it his life journey to fulfill this dream. He would not let anything get in the way or stop him, which unfortunately did not go well for his family. As the Berry family continuously “hope for a fairy-tale existence, these forces shatter their dreams” (Reilly 98). Win, and the rest of the (household?) Throughout the entire novel, the Berry family wishes and hopes for more. With creative ideas in mind, they often move from place to place, to keep up with the competitive hotel business. As the years go by, they all begin to deteriorate and dreadful incidents constantly occur. While jumping from hotel to hotel, Egg and Mother die, the dog Sorrow dies, Franny is raped, and the love between Franny and John becomes more dangerous. As hard as it is to believe, two of the siblings have romantic feelings for one another, which as the novel persits, increasing becomes an immense problem. After the horrific rape of Franny, the beloved family dog, Sorrow, passed away. Franny adored Sorrow, so as a gift, the eldest son, Frank, decided to stuff Sorrow and “make him nice again” (Irving 163). Frank makes it his mission to make Sorrow look acceptable. After working on it for several months day in and day out, the dog is finally finished. Frank had successfully stuffed him, and once Sorrow made his first appearance to the family, the grandfather dropped dead in fear. As time passes and the family moves around the world, stuffed Sorrow follows along and seems to carry a dangerous (mojo). Walking through the streets, Franny shouted “here comes the rest of our lives”
Mark was the first boy that Jennings met in the home so he was the one to show Jennings the rules of the home. He slept with Doggie his first night but was panicked when he woke up to find Doggie gone. Jennings thought he had lost Doggie, Mark explained what happens every night with the animals that they are given. Jennings didn’t understand why the nuns would take them away, when he asked Mark “‘But why?’ Mark snapped and said ‘It’s the rules!’ ‘They cage the animals at night. It’s the rules.’”(Burch, 26) Jennings thought that Doggie was his, so when he was lent out to the Carpenter’s he didn’t realize he wouldn’t be able to take Doggie with him. Mrs. Carpenter was a very mean woman and Jennings just wanted Doggie back, he drew a picture of him hoping it would make him feel better. When he got back to the Home of the angels he was very happy to know Doggie was safe and he would get to sleep with him again. Shortly after Jennings got back to the home Sister Clair told Jennings she would be leaving to go help at a school, they were both new in the Home of the angels at the same time. When Jennings woke up, he found Doggie under his pillow with a note attached from Sister Clair that
During the awkward reunion, the speaker fights an internal battle with her feelings. There is something inside of her trying to claw its way out, and the bottled up bitterness threatens to rip its way to the surface. Her suppressed emotions are personified in the form of a disobedient female dog, hence the name “Bitch”. When the woman is approached by the man, she refers to herself as a canine by saying things like “don’t start growling” (2). The command demonstrates the speaker attempting to restrain her feelings like trying to constrain a belligerent dog. She feigns a cool demeanor, and as her voice is saying one thing, the voice inside her is getting furious and yearns to express her true feelings, but fears her stability will be questioned.
Irving uses many other images and scenes within this story that could be delved into further. However, I believe these three main points, along with the knowledge of the political climate of the times, shows Irving’s genius in representing both sides of the political gamut. Irving was able to cater to both the British and the Colonist without offending either side. Irving’s genius was that even though this was an allegory of its time, its elements could represent either or both sides of the conflict during the Revolution. This dual representation in an allegorical story ensured his success, in both countries as a writer. It allowed Irving to make a political statement without taking sides.
Who is to say whether the aunt's disappearance is a manifestation of her madness or simply a rebellion on her part, an affirmation of the life she has never before experienced? Yet, in the boy's mind, she is dead, and her death has been brought about by the dog and all it symbolizes. The repression of emotion in his aunt has been freed by something not human, and in doing so, it has brought disorder to order and madness to composure.
In the movie, Marley & Me, the director depicted love in a different way. He depicted it between a man and a dog. The main character, Owen Wilson, had a strong bond with his dog. Own Wilson developed a strong love bond that was never broken. As the saying goes, a dog is a man’s best-friend. The main character got married and was able to keep his best-friend/Marley. They were all able to create wonderful and memorable memories. The love that he had for his pet, Marley, was so strong because of what they had went through and how Marley was always protecting and sticking up him when he was younger. However, the dog had to put down and his family was devastated. The last words his owners whispered to his ears were, “Look, I don't know where you're going from here, but you remember this: you’re a great dog, Marley. You are a great dog.” (106:08-106:19). The way the director depicted the last scene was so emotional. The audience and character felt the same pain an...
Success can be an extremely broad subject. There is an abounding amount of different views on what the “true” definition of success is. Personally, I believe that success is finding happiness. Success is waking up in the morning and not having to worry about whether or not the bills are going to be paid this month. Success is having a job that you enjoy going to every day. Success is having friends and family who love and support you. Success does not mean that one has to be exceedingly rich or have a lakeside mansion. As long as they are happy, they have succeeded in life.
It’s a feeling everyone has gone through, therefore, it’s comprehensible. If Updike had made it seem like the family didn’t care about the dog and ended up insulting the dog, the reader would be more mad than upset. But that isn’t what Updike was going for, he wanted the audience to think of their deceased pets and smile at the good times and cry at the end. Updike wanted to bring up lost memories of that one dog that was as loyal to be called “good
John Irving was born March 2, 1942, in Exeter, New Hampshire, he was raised by his biological mother, and stepfather. Many events from Irving’s personal life have inspired books that he has written, such as, parent separations, feminism, sexual abuse, and sexual fantasies. Not only have plots been inspired by Irving’s personal life, but also the characters; which often follow Irving’s past experiences. Much like Charles Dickens, Irving’s themes focus on the darkness of the world and what the characters must face in order to overcome the complex plots. At the age of 15, John Irving’s life was greatly affected by reading, Great Expectations. The personal growth and character development found in Great Expectations have impacted Irving’s novels.
Success is defined as reaching the life goal that is set by the individual. The success brought onto any individual is based on the attitude towards the roadblocks that may occur while trying to achieve the goal. Given the choice to be negative about a situation occurred, giving up is the only choice. A positive attitude is the key to success because success effects an individuals educationally, work wise, and socially. Many may say that having a positive attitude toward success will be a set up for failure, but a positive attitude is an incentive to achieve the goal.
What does it mean to be successful? For many people, success means money and fame but this is a stereotypical though. Success shouldn't be what society determines for us as individuals, but for us as human beings, to be able to prevail from our mistakes and better ourselves for the future. Many might ask what that means, but I'm here to explain just that. From a very young age, we are taught that money and fame should be our goal as adults, however, many people who are financially struggling often have the best advice on how to achieve success because of their past experiences.
Success for me is to fully find your purpose in life and aim for a certain goal. Success to others may mean distinctive things. People mostly say that to become successful is to work hard and you will have lots of money. Success is not handed to you on a silver platter. Success is a goal you wish to accomplish and only you can want to complete this goal.
Many people have different perspective for success, for me success is living the life as a contented student achieving my goals, having a successful education, and achieving the impossible. For me success means to set a goal and planning the process to achieve it. There is no better feeling than when I have finally accomplished the goal that I’ve set for myself. Being successful can only happen when we explore and broaden our definition of success in our life. Few people think of it as money, fame, power however it’s the way we perceive it to be.
The dog also allowed the child to occasionally take out anger on it, even when no reason was given. The dog played a safe haven that allowed the boy to believe things would get better shown here: “When misfortune came upon the child, and his troubles overwhelmed him, he would often crawl under the table and lay his small distressed head on the dog’s back. The dog was ever sympathetic”(Crane, "A Dark Brown Dog"). The story eventually ends with the dog’s death by the hands of the child’s father here: “The father of the family paid no attention to these calls of the child, but advanced with glee upon the dog. He rolled over on his back and held his paws in a peculiar manner.
The true definition of success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Although, many people have different perceptions of success. Success is judged by the individuals themselves. Success can be defined in many ways including: wealth, happiness, fame, etc. Success can be anything from material goods to concepts. It all depends on your concept and how you achieve your goals. You have to have persistence within yourself. Varying on your profession, you will need a certain skill level. Your definition of success can be suitable best for you, but not for others. It is about truly not giving up, reaching your full potential, and self-fulfillment.
Ones take of this story can be many of sorts. The dog essential may have saved this young child, his father may have chosen to throw him out the window. If the dog wasn’t there to take his place, who is to say what could had happened? It also shows how the dogs undeniable, love, devotion and eagerness to please his master. Eventually these traits, sadly left him resting lifeless in his young master’s arms. The relationships between these characters, is one of who’s pulling the strings. The abuse has been passed down from father to son. This story leaves an emptiness, with the unsettling turn of events.