“A hidden weight seemed to attach itself to simple objects—a teacup, a doorknob, a glass—hardly noticeable at first, beyond the sense that every move required a slightly greater exertion of energy”(187). In Nicole Krauss’ short story, “The Young Painters”, Krauss brings across the idea of guilt swallowing the narrator because of her decision to steal a frightening story told to her by a dancer and recreate the story and publish it as her own work. In the first scene, the author encounters a captivating painter in the dancer’s home which she later discovers has a intense backstory. She later publishes the story as her own but adds a happy twist to deemphasize the horror of the original story. In the second scene, after an odd encounter with …show more content…
While wandering through the dancer’s house, the narrator encounters an intriguing painting where “the faces on the top half of the paper were upside down, as if the painter had turned the page around or circled it on his or her knee while painting, in order to reach more easily” (180). This passage suggests the author’s use of an awestruck tone which helps introduce the fascinating painting and shows the narrator’s admiration toward the painting. The author choice to incorporate the phrase, “in order to reach more easily” introduces a childish aspect to the story by implying the painter is smaller because he or she was struggling to reach the painting. The dancer continues to tell the frightening backstory to the painting, explaining how the children were asleep in the car and the mother “poured gasoline all over the car and lit it with a match. All three burned to death. It’s hard to explain, the dancer said, but I was always jealous of how …show more content…
Upon the dancer’s departure, “the dancer, who though older was still languid and full of grace, reached out and tapped me with two fingers on the cheek, turned, and walked away” (185). Krauss uses this odd gesture by the dancer helps reinforce the strange quirks of the dancer and the author’s thought of the gesture containing “something condescending in it, even meant to humiliate” (185). The use of the words, “languid and full of grace” continues to strengthen the narrator’s fascination in the dancers beauty but also how the narrator feels uncomfortable with her interactions with the dancer. After the narrator’s encounter with the dancer, she walks by a crowded park “until a cry rang out, pained and terrified, an agonizing child’s cry that tore into[her] as if it were an appeal to [her] alone” (186). The author’s use of the painful and terrifying cry reintroduces the theme of a screaming child from the first passage which reinforces the author’s incapability to manager her guilt. The use of the word “agonizing” in this context suggests the overwhelming amount of guilt the author contains but in form as a youthful shrilling scream. Towards the end of the short story, the agonizing
Perfect, as they see her, only describes the traits belonging to her surface. Her half-nakedness is a reference only to her clothing, but not so presumptuous as to insinuate it is that of her soul. Simile implies the angelic beauty of her voice, and notes that it is only accentuated by elation, and memories of good times. A shift in perspective begins a much more profound journey. Mckay employs the narrator’s viewpoint for a twist, allowing us to see more of her. No longer through the distorted view of youth, we see the dancer revealed differently, deeper. As a silent observer standing in the back of a dark, smoky club, the mysterious narrator sees her light amongst the darkness. Her scars of lost love and shattered dreams create an image of fierce grace that only ripens with the maturity of womanhood, and accentuates the true beauty within her soul, of overcoming, of standing proud, of facing the storm, no matter what. Life itself is inevitably vulnerable yet somehow, strength, even when silent, prevails. With her trunk strong and head held high, he speaks of the storms she has weathered, which is her tale of hardship, adversity, and inevitable oppression. He sees her hurt, and recognizes, even if only for a moment. Time stands still. As if jolted back to reality by the clanking of coins being tossed about the stage, the young riled audience, like a pack of wild beasts, devour
She excites the feelings of guilt and pity in order to gain the support of her audience. By using details that describe the horrible work conditions of “several thousand little girls”, such as “in the deafening noise of the spindles” and “all night through”, she emphasizes how bad the children’s lives are without the proper laws. Another example of pathos being used is “A little girl, on her thirteenth birthday, could start away from her home at half past five in the afternoon, carrying her pail of midnight luncheon, and could work in the mill from six at night until six in the morning…” Kelly’s subtle emphasis on the innocence of children as seen the preceding example, gives the audience a feeling of guilt because children shouldn’t need to work through the night. By going into more detail about the type of work children do, Kelley helps to persuade the audience into making a change in order to satisfy their
Her goal was to move, not dance. She challenged the notions of what a quote on quote “female dancer” was and could do. Dance to her was an exploration, a celebration of life, and religious calling that required an absolute devotion (pg. 11, Freedman). She considered her dancers “acrobats of God”. An example of a dance which symbolized the “essentialized” body was Martha Graham’s Lamentation, choreographed in 1930, which served as an expression of what person’s grief, with Graham as the solo dancer in the piece. The costume, a tube-like stretchy piece of fabric, only allowed her face, hands, and feet to be seen, and, as Graham stated, “The garment that is worn is just a tube of material, but it is as though you were stretching inside your own skin.” In the beginning of the piece, she started out by sitting on a bench with her legs wide spread and arms held tight. Her head was going back and forth as if she was feeling sadness or maybe replaying thoughts in her head. By the way she was holding her hands so tight and close to her body, it symbolized the deep pain within her––the essence of her piece was grief, and she danced it from inside out. Russel Freedman, the author of Martha Graham A Dancers Life, stated, “She did not dance about grief, but sought “the thing itself”- the very embodiment of grief (p. 61).” Graham, dancing with strength and power, was encapsulated with her movement and was completely surrendered
Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”
Throughout her transformation, she does not only lose her unwanted body parts but also herself. She was “born as usual.” She was “healthy.” She was “intelligent.” Yet, she “offered” her body and became an object for others to point and critique at. Upon the judgments that are harshly thrown at the poor child, “her good nature [was] worn out/like a fan belt.” The poet creates this simile and the tone of insecurity to show that over a long period of time she is no longer able to take in any more criticism. She cannot be “apologizing” any more for how she is. Thus, she conforms to the ways of society by having pieces of her cut off. She becomes a doll, an object that does not live life and that is easily wielded and manipulated by others. This child takes her own freedom away, a freedom that Louise from Chopin’s work strives
Many times people tend to allow their thoughts to have an overtake in which it clouds what is actually happening. Some can revoke their right state of mind and make their own make-believe world with these thoughts. Authors, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Edgar Allan Poe both demonstrate this perception in their short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper.” In The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator murders the old man he lives with because he is disturbed by the man’s eyes. Similarly, in The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is dealing with depression, and feels that she is being watched by the wallpaper and starts to study it and decoding the meaning.
...retation of the painting some aspects were surprising to how dark and heavy hearted she could speak, she took an interesting perspective. However in her interpretative poem she found a perspective of the painting that connected with her. As she used every stroke of darkness painted into the canvas an opportunity to have it symbolize this darkness and evil that resides in the world. It told her story and her experience of a starry night. Similarly Van Gogh had used every stroke of light painted into the canvas to be a symbol of beauty, and a symbol of his fascination of the night sky and its illuminating lights. He uses swift movements of his brush to depict a sky that seem to be able to sweep the mind away from the frustrations of this world in to the dreamy night light. A single painting worth a million words tells many stories through every perspective.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
The story explores many vital concepts accompanied by beautiful illustrations. I felt a strong sense of cultural understanding, spirituality and connection to family and land as though I was on this journey too. I could sense an underlying meaning in each dance, holding great importance to Bertie’s family and a strong connection to their culture. Pryor has attempted to fuse the then and now, by speaking of changes in the land, from a once spiritual gathering place, to a now busy town street where through food, they keep the culture alive (Pryor, 2010).
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
In the poem “One Art” the thesis statement declared in the first stanza, on the first line as “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” also repeating it again in line 6 and 12. The statement is better interpreted as “The skill of losing is not hard to attain”. Bishop speaks in the poem as if she has successfully mastered the skill of losing. She also goes around in circles admitting that the art of losing is not hard to master as if that is what she is making herself believe is true. She is also helping the reader create a habit as the reader reads and repeats the refrain of “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” not to mention the line 4 where she tells the reader to make it a habit to, “Lose something every day”.
In the end, the journey the speaker embarked on throughout the poem was one of learning, especially as the reader was taken through the evolution of the speakers thoughts, demonstrated by the tone, and experienced the images that were seen in the speaker’s nightmare of the personified fear. As the journey commenced, the reader learned how the speaker dealt with the terrors and fears that were accompanied by some experience in the speaker’s life, and optimistically the reader learned just how they themselves deal with the consequences and troubles that are a result of the various situations they face in their
“Lamentation” is a famous ballet dance choreographed by the eminent Martha Graham. Martha Graham is one of the first generation contemporary modern dancers known for her abstract movements that communicate emotions and feelings. Lamentation means to mourn or to express one’s deep grief. The dance “Lamentation” expresses Martha Graham’s individual pain and suffering during the Great Depression. During WWII, the nation greatly suffered a great despair of deaths, along with sufferings of no food or funds. Lamentation truly expresses the country’s struggle of despair and a search for hope.
The women which Stephen comes across in his journey in becoming an artist define him and change him by nurturing him, fascinating him, and inspiring him. Stephen was forever changed by his mother, the Virgin Mary, Eileen, the prostitute, and the seaside woman. The object of the artist is to create the object of the beautiful, I argue that it was the beauty in the women of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which created the artist in the end.
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus defines beauty and the artist's comprehension of his/her own art. Stephen uses his esthetic theory with theories borrowed from St. Thomas Aquinas and Plato. The discourse can be broken down into three main sections: 1) A definitions of beauty and art. 2) The apprehension and qualifications of beauty. 3) The artist's view of his/her own work. I will explain how the first two sections of his esthetic theory relate to Stephen. Furthermore, I will argue that in the last section, Joyce is speaking of Stephen Dedalus and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as his art.