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Role of religion in english literature
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The arts, as interpretations of reality or even the creation of new ones, constantly inform a society’s perceptions of what is real or plausible and what the experience of the individual entails. This is done through a series of perceptions that begins with an artist’s perception of reality. In literature, the author translates this perception into a text that can be as whimsical as Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as outwardly observant and insightful as Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, or as straightforward as Nathaniel Hawthrone’s The Scarlet Letter. It is then the readers’ interpretations of a text that provides individuals and society with new understandings of reality. It is this basis of understanding that is continually added to so that reality is further defined and redefined and there is a greater comprehension of the human condition.
Because the author—and his experience of reality—is at the root of this process it is important that his background be taken into account, especially because an author’s perception of reality will likely influence his portrayal of it. In relation to James Joyce’s “The Dead” and Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo, an understanding of the culture, society, and time period that served as each author’s reality allows for a deeper understanding of each text.
James Joyce is an acclaimed Irish author who is known for his short stories and novels about Dublin and the Irish people. James Joyce was well travelled and lived outside of Ireland for the latter half of his life. He lived during the late 19th century and the early to mid-20th century. Literary scholar Lorraine Weir reports that Joyce opposed the Roman Catholic Church under which he was raised and disagreed with ...
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...tructural Unity: The Fall From Grace In Rulfo's
Pedro Paramo. Thesis. 1969. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1970. Print.
"Gabriel (Angel) - Biblical People." About Bible Prophecy. 13 Feb. 2001. Web. 2 May
2011. .
"James (Agustine Aloysius) Joyce." Contemporary Authors. Gale, 2005. Web. 28 Apr.
2011. .
Joyce, James. “The Dead.” Dubliners. New York: Random House, 2005.
"Juan Rulfo." Contemporary Authors. Gale, 2003. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. ic.galegroup.com>. Rulfo, Juan. Pedro Paramo. Tran. Margaret Sayers Peden. New York: Grove Press,
1994.
Volek, Emil. "Juan Rulfo." Cyclopedia of World Authors. 4th ed. Salem. 1-2. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.
Weir, Lorraine. ""Joyce, James"" World Book Student Online. World Book.
Web. 7 Nov. 2010.
"One day he caught a fish, a beautiful big big fish, and the man in the hotel boiled it for their dinner" (p.191). Little did Mrs. Malins know that those words issued from her feeble old lips so poignantly described the insensibility of the characters in James Joyce's The Dead toward their barren lives. The people portrayed in this novelette represented a wealthy Irish class in the early twentieth century, gathered at the house of the Morkan sisters for an annual tradition of feast and dance. Although all of the personages had, at one point, a potential for a beautiful life, sad memories of the past and the despair that invaded Ireland had eventually boiled all true senses and desires into a dull stew, destined to rot. Of particular interest is Gabriel Conroy, whom Joyce singularly bestowed a gift of introspection, though that did not save him from becoming yet another of the living dead.
It is impossible to understand the innermost and ever complex thoughts, feelings, hopes, and reflections of others. To understand is to grasp the strife and pleasure of each moment’s depth through a set lens. Confined by my own lens, I have been and will always be the main character of my own book. Though I can never know another human’s cognitive glances, I can at least be mindful of the infinite complexity and reasoning of each human. Even the most empathetic cannot understand exactly how Claude Monet felt for Camille, how Beethoven felt for “Elise”, or how
Sporre, Dennis J. Reality through the Arts. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2013. Print.
Milan Kundera contends, “A novel that does not discover a hitherto unknown segment of existence is immoral” (3). In this it is seen that the primary utility of the novel lies in its ability to explore an array of possible existences. For these possible existences to tell us something of our actual existence, they need to be populated by living beings that are both as whole, and as flawed, as those in the real world. To achieve this the author must become the object he writes of. J.M. Coetzee states, “there is no limit to the extent to which we can think ourselves into the being of another. There are no bounds to the sympathetic imagination” (35). Through this sympathetic faculty, a writer is able to give flesh, authenticity and a genuine perspective to the imagined. It is only in this manner that the goal of creating living beings may be realized. Anything short of this becomes an exercise in image and in Kundera’s words, produces an immoral novel (3).
Social System in Gabriel Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Albert Camus’s The Stranger
James Joyce, whose full name was James Augustine Aloysuis Joyce, known as one of the greatest Irish literature writers in the 20th century(FamousAuthors). Born in Dublin, Ireland, February 2, 1882 into a middle class family. Joyce was one of ten surviving children. John Stanislaus Joyce was James father. A talented singer, just about one of the best in Ireland during his time. Although he had an extraordinary talent, he could not provide a steady household for the family. After being laid off from a tax collector job he became an alcoholic and addicted to drugs. His father could not keep a steady job. His habit to spend money lead the family downhill. This caused the family to move from home to home. Joyce mother, Mary Jane Murray was an phenomenal pianist. Even though this was not enough to keep their family of twelve on their feet in the middle class area. Her life revolved around the catholic church.
Fairhall, James. James Joyce and the Question of History. Cambridge University Press. New York, New York: 1993.
In every idea, object, and person, there are two sides. Especially in people, so many differences can be revealed, but they can all be boiled down to two simplistic elements: good and bad. This philosophy can be discovered in many pieces of literature and art, pieces such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Gospel of Matthew, Mark Twain’s Two Ways of Seeing the River, Edvard Munch’s The Scream, and “Vincent” by Don McLean. In order to dissect these works and find the intertwining similarities one must first be aware of the dichotomy of people, objects, and ideas. After doing this, one may see how in all of these works the authors bring to light a similar theme, that one’s perception of a person or thing
García, Márquez Gabriel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Gregory Rabassa New York: Knopf, 1983. Print.
1 Joyce, James : The Dead , Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol.2, sixth edition
In “The Dead,” James Joyce presents the Irish as a people so overwhelmed with times past and people gone that they cannot count themselves among the living. Rather, their preoccupation with the past and lack of faith in the present ensures that they are more dead than they are alive. The story, which takes place at a holiday party, explores the paralyzed condition of the lifeless revelers in relation to the political and cultural stagnation of Ireland. Gabriel Conroy, the story’s main character, differs from his countrymen in that he recognizes the hold that the past has on Irish nationalists and tries to free himself from this living death by shedding his Gaelic roots and embracing Anglican thinking. However, he is not able to escape, and thus Joyce creates a juxtaposition between old and new, dead and alive, and Irish and Anglican within Gabriel. His struggle, as well as the broader struggle within Irish society of accommodating inevitable English influence with traditional Gaelic customs is perpetuated by symbols of snow and shadow, Gabriel’s relationship with his wife, and the epiphany that allows him to rise above it all in a profound and poignant dissertation on Ireland in the time of England.
In their short stories “The Dead” by James Joyce and “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, the author sought to express the disgruntled emotions felt by young men and women of their era. Both authors use commentary and powerful language to justify the emotions felt during this time. They express their displeasure with society, in the case of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and the strife of expectations of a man in Joyce’s “The Dead”. The author’s use of tone in both stories reflects the feelings each felt and themes each attack display the emotional state of society of their time.
James Joyce was a renowned Irish author and poet, most known for writing the book Ulysses, which parallels the events of The Odyssey in a variety of writing styles. Although Ulysses is considered his magnum opus, his other works including Dubliners, A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Finnegans Wake are held in high esteem by many.
Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The Portable James Joyce. Ed. Harry Levin. New York: Penguin, 1976.
Many believed that Modernist works were not “art” because they did not always look like real life. But what is “real life”? A new outlook on reality was taken by Modernists. What is true for one person at one time is not true for another person at a different time. Experimentation with perspective and truth was not confined to the canvas; it influenced literary circles as well.