Over the course of the short story “Catch the Moon”, the author, Judith Ortiz Cofer, alludes to two messages in particular, conveying to the reader that purpose entails a greater reward than boasting as well as that the desire to impress can have unintended consequences. Initially, Ortiz Cofer provides the reader with details regarding the colorful past held by Luis Cintron, the story’s protagonist. Throughout both the beginning and middle of the story, we, as the audience, are presented with actions performed by Luis and his friends that easily qualify as rash and irresponsible, such as “harassing the local authorities”, “borrow[ing] some ‘souvenirs’ out of Anita Roble’s locker”, and “breaking and entering”. This utilization by Ortiz Cofer of the flashback technique plays a significant role in providing the events to be used as, to use an analogy, the “before photographs” of Luis’ …show more content…
Subsequently, Luis’ will to aid Naomi, an attractive customer of the junk shop he and his father operate, results in a fulfilling feeling exhibited by an epiphany Luis experiences towards the end of the story. By spending hours rummaging through the pile of hubcaps in the junkyard with the mere intention of finding a new one to match the rest on Naomi’s car, he comes to realize that, regarding the search, “there was another element involved here that had nothing to do with showing off for others”, “he knew what he was looking for”, and that he was about “to give her the first good thing he had given anyone in a long time.” The determination which propelled Luis to perform such a selfless act was unprecedented in his life, not to mention how starkly it contrasted with his previous actions. As readers, the only way via which we are able to determine this is the consistent use of omniscient third person point of view by the author, which allows us to peer into Luis’ true feelings as opposed to merely the feelings he would project in a limited third person point
The situation with Mandy in Ed Vega’s short story “Spanish Roulette”, portrays a young women’s innocence being stolen and the distress that was brought upon the family thereafter. The narrator focuses on Sixto Andrade, the brother of Mandy, and how he deals with the situation. Although Mandy’s character is not directly introduced, she is significant because she is the purpose of the plot and she impacts the actions of her brother.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” utilize character responsibilities to create a sinister plot. For Hawthorne, protagonist Young Goodman Brown must leave his wife at home while he partakes in a night journey. For Poe, ancillary Fortunato covets a pretentious manner towards his wine tasting skills, and after being ‘challenged’ decides to prove his expertise by sampling Amontillado. Hawthorne and Poe showcase a theme of darkness but differ in their approach to the setting, characters, and fate of entrapment.
Dade’s father predicted that “[he] was going to end up on one of those curbs”(Canin 2), if he didn’t stop dreaming. This caused Dade to start self-reflecting on his life and wonder if he was going down the right path. Dade felt a connection with the women because he thought he would end up like her if he didn't listen to his father. After the talk began to take his work more seriously, but he still self-reflected. He felt connection with the women’s struggles because of his own life struggles. Dade’s mother knew that he “was destined for limited fame” because it “could not appreciated by everybody” (Canin 2). Dade did not know which one of his parents were correct. The conflicting opinions from parents caused more self-reflection, and caused Dade to struggle much more. Dade’s self-reflection caused him to struggle and feel a connection with the women’s
In the beginning of Annie Dillard’s story, “An American Childhood,” she describes playing football and how she and her friend Mickey were chased after throwing snowballs at a man’s car. The author compares the chase scene and the description of football to convey that in both it is “all or nothing”.
In the award winning play The Oxcart “La carreta”, by René Marqués is about a Puerto Rican family trying to escape poverty by moving to a more prosperous place. The Characters of the Oxcart are: Doña Gabriela who is a widow and the mother of Juanita and chaguito and also the stepmom of Luis, she is very strong woman. Juanita her daughter in the other hand stars off as a docile person whoever after something tragic happens to her she then becomes this strong defying character and eventually she becomes a prostitute. Chaguito is a very naughty boy he loves that streets and hates school he is extremely disrespectful. Don Chago is the father of Luis and Doña Gabriela’s husband he’s the typical and traditional man who won’t leave behind his place of origin. Luis, Doña Gabriela’s stepson, he is the head of the household; he works very hard but eventually dies coincidentally while working. Those are the primarily characters of the Oxcart then we have the others such as Lidia, whose Juanita’s friend while living in New York, we also have Lito, who is a family neighbor while they are living in San Juan, we also have Germana, the nosey neighbor. Matilde who is the one that encourages Juanita to enter the world of prostitution, and then we have Paco, a radio personality that meets Juanita in New York and ask her to marry him. There is also Mr. Parkinton an American preacher and lastly Doña Isabel, a former teacher and Luis’ fiancé’s aunt that also has a brief affair with him
In “Nevsky Prospect,” the third person narrator pulls double duty by describing two stories that parallel each other in time. After describing the seemingly harmless bustling avenue, mustaches, and clothing of Nevsky Prospect, the narrator happens to come upon two different characters: an artist and an officer. First, he follows the artist and right away, the narrator seems to be absorbed in the world of the artist. We see this occur when it is often hard to tell when the artist is dreaming or awake. The narrat...
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” is a short psychological thriller. The murder of Fortunato haunts Montresor so greatly that he feels the compulsion to tell the story some fifty years after the fact. He appears to be in the late stages of life desperately attempting to remove the stain of murder from his mind. That it is still so fresh and rich in specifics is proof that it has plagued him, “Perhaps the most chilling aspect of reading Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ for the first time is not the gruesome tale that Montresor relates, but the sudden, unpredictable, understated revelation that the murder, recounted in its every lurid detail, occurred not yesterday or last week, but a full fifty years prior to the telling” (DiSanza).
The character of Joaquín Murieta has been described as a Western Robin Hood. Even following a string of bloody crimes, he was glorified by the author, much like other traditional western outlaws. However, while Murieta’s crimes would have certainly “[left] his name impressed upon the early history of this State,” he was not extraordinary in mind or in heart (Ridge 158). Instead, Murieta is another classic example of Limerick’s myth of innocence often found in period literature.
Throughout the story “Walk Two Moons” written by Sharon Creech, Mrs.Winterbottom is faced with internal and external conflicts that lead her to change.
The setting in the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” has many similarities and differences to the setting in “The Interlopers”. Though the settings differ in many ways, for example the danger of them and their contents, they are also similar in their mystery and vitality to the plot. These two pieces of writing hold many of the same ideas, but they also are original works that portray them in their own way.
Initially, Rios illustrates a young boy perplexed by a new-found maturity. As the maturation from childhood to adolescence begins, he is facing unfamiliar feelings about the opposite sex. An example of this is apparent as Rios explains that the boy cannot talk to girls anymore; at least “not the same way we used to” (Rios 453). Since his emotions have new depth and maturity, the young boy realizes the nature of his friendships has changed. Innocence is further lost as the girls who are former friends, “weren’t the same girls we used to know” (453). The boy has matured from his casual, youthful interactions, and is now seeing the girls in a new light. Another example of his maturity manifests sexually as he reflects about the girls, “and all the things we wanted to do with them” (454). Although he is unsure how to act upon his thoughts, the innocence is none the less tainted by his desires for mature relations with the young girls. The maturity and sexual maturity bring forth a storm of emotions that prove to be both exhilarating and confusing for the young boy.
In “The Fortune Teller,” the author, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, uses symbolism to prove to one that an affair is not worth a person’s life. He uses the letter to symbolize hate between Villela and Camillo regarding the affair. This very ambiguous letter has terrified Camillo and put an end to his life. The letter enhances the theme of the short story by showing the anger and hate that Villela now had for Camillo. This hate is a focal point in the short story that leads to ending the affair along with Camillo and Rita’s life. Ultimately, the affair caused a large amount of tension between the three. However, the author was successful in grabbing the reader’s attention with the letter as the turning point of the short story.
Edgar Allen Poe’s tale of murder and revenge, “The Cask of Amontillado”, offers a unique perspective into the mind of a deranged murderer. The effectiveness of the story is largely due to its first person point of view, which allows the reader a deeper involvement into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, Montresor. The first person narration results in an unbalanced viewpoint on the central conflict of the story, man versus man, because the reader knows very little about the thoughts of the antagonist, Fortunato. The setting of “The Cask of Amontillado”, in the dark catacombs of Montresor’s wine cellar, contributes to the story’s theme that some people will go to great lengths to fanatically defend their honor.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author of “Avery Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a well-known Colombian author “that has been considered one of the best writers of the 20th century”(Macondo). He published his first collection of short stories in 1955, which included the fictional short story written for children, called the “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” In his work, he expresses that it is possible that he may have experienced similar cruelty within his life and the life of others. ‘We've entered a cultural realm in our own collective history where it has become necessary to question what's real.”(Sellman) It is Marquez's purpose to make individuals aware of the harm that is inflicted on others. He demonstrates how awful people can act around those who are different from what society considers as normal.
Richard Brautigan’s short fiction stories incorporate protagonists that are recognizably fictionalized versions of the author himself. He writes in order to extract his own struggles of the past and the difficulties of discovering himself in the present. Through the characters in The Weather in San Francisco and Corporal, the portrayal of his optimistic view of life as a consequence of the rigors of daily life, and the use of symbols, Brautigan presents his personal story through the words on the paper.