Analysis of Bernard MacLaverty's My Dear Palestrina
My Dear Palestrina’ is a cleverly written short story by Bernard MacLaverty. It is about this young boy called Danny who discovers his musical talent and goes to this piano teacher called Miss Swartz. Their friendship develops and seem to be a formidable partnership until Danny is torn away from his beloved music lessons because of Miss Schwartz private life. Fitted into the story are some important themes that still continue to exist in today’s society. In this essay I will try to explain most of them to you.
The most notable theme is how the prejudice of people can never be overcome. This is weaved into the story by the relationship of Danny and Miss Schwartz working well together until the very end when Danny is stopped from going to Miss Schwartz because of other peoples prejudice. Bernard MacLaverty has focused mostly on this theme because of Danny and Miss Schwartz being the main characters so by focusing the theme with them it allows the readers to read more about the prejudice of people. The barriers of social class is another theme I noticed in the story due to the disliking of Danny’s father towards the local Blacksmith. I noticed that Danny’s father doesn’t like the blacksmith because he says “If he’s pouring the same poison into your ear, son, as he’s been spewing out in the pub he’s a bad influence” Danny’s father and the Blacksmiths feuds also represent some civil conflict between people in the story. The theme of friendship is also included in the story because Danny and Miss Schwartz do have a good friendship going through most of the story and there is also a bit of love in the story because Danny seems to have a bit of a crush on Miss Schwartz. I can see that Danny has a slight crush on Miss Schwartz because on page 10 it says, “In the darkness Danny had to get close to look along the line of her arm. He smelt her perfume and the slightest taint of her own smell, felt his face brush the texture of her clothing”. The language used in that phrase is what you would expect from someone who is in love with someone. The writer has chosen these themes to make the story more enjoyable and to spice up the relationships and characteristics of characters and has developed them with the growing of Danny.
The local Blacksmith is an unshaven and dirty character who has very passionate views about...
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...den and have very personal conversations. Its in the winter when Danny is stopped from going to see Miss Schwartz and it seems as though their relationship reaches a high climax and is then forcefully taken to a sudden stop.
‘My Dear Palestrina’ was an enjoyable little story which was really pleasant to read. It appealed to me because of the way it was masterfully written with plenty of hidden meanings. The authors chosen themes were really up to date and I think its that which is the reason that I liked it. Take the theme of prejudice for example, other peoples prejudice exist today in most peoples lives and is shown everyday. The theme of social class is not so much involved in life today but for me it added something different to the story to make it more enjoyable. The theme of friendship was in there to give the story a warm feel to it and I really liked it. If their was a fault in ‘My Dear Palestrina’ I would have to say it tends to be a bit slow to read in bits. All in all though I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I always know I like a story when at the end you feel sorry for a character and it just so happens that at the end of ‘My Dear Palestrina’ I felt sorry for Danny.
“No, we’re greasers,” I said, which means Ponyboy is stepping up to his family and love his brothers. Ponyboy is thinking the same way I am like explaining and what the theme means of trusting someone, or trusting your family. My theme for the middle of the novel is, “the little kids could have a better life than you.”
The definition of the word theme is the message about life or human nature that is “the focus” in the story that the writer tells. (Glossary of Literary Terms). One of the messages the author is trying to get across to the reader is, the ability to accept ones true self. June May continuously worries about what her family will think about her. “And rather than be impressed, I am worried about the expense, as well as the appearance it must give Aiyi, that we rich Americans cannot be without our luxuries even for one night.” (187). Her family is over joyed with them visiting and could care less about judging her or her father. June learns by the end of her trip that she needs to accept herself and stop worrying about what others my think. How she sees herself is what matters. Another theme in this story is that blood is thicker than distance. This meaning regardless how far away family may be, they will always be a part of her culture and history. June May’s family in China loves her and cares for her, despite the fact that they have never met before. None of that matters because family is blood and no matter the circumstance they will always be a part of her Chinese heritage. “You wrote and said you would come for only one day. One day! How can you see your family in only one day!”(186). June’s father, Canning Woo, had told his aunt that they would come to China and visit for one day. His aunt was
There are many different themes that are present throughout this play; however the two larger themes are slavery and Christian values. Throughout the play these two themes are present with every character and yet at the same time seem to be at odds with each other. When it comes to the idea of slavery, the fact that this book was written at the time to persuade the readers, especially the northerners that slavery is evil, un-Christian, and intolerable in society. Even with the idea of slavery, we can find that the play takes a great amount of time to show the fact that the slavery system does not follow the Christian values. These two themes seem to be forever intertwining with each other.
We can understand this theme by using character. In paragraph 3, Petry states, "The wind lifted Lutie Johnson's hair away from the back of her neck so that she felt suddenly naked and bald, for her hair had been resting softly and warmly against her skin. She shivered as the cold fingers of the wind touched the back of her neck, explored the sides of her head." This quote shows that the wind was so raw that it "ripped the people's hair off." This contributes to the theme by stating the wind is the struggle that people must get through to get to their next destination. Another way we can find the theme is through events. Petry writes in paragraph 3, "Each time she thought she had the sign in focus, the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn't certain whether it said three rooms or two rooms. If it was three, why, she would go in and ask to see it, but if it said two - why, there wasn't any point." This quote is saying that the wind was blowing so hard that the character could not read the sign. By showing the difficulty in visualizing the sign, creating struggle, we develop a further understanding of the theme. Another way we can portray theme, is through setting. Paragraph 2 states, "Fingering its way along the curb, the wind set the bits of paper to dancing high in the air, so that a barrage of paper swirled into the faces of the people on the street. It even took time to rush into doorways and areaways and find chicken bones and pork-chop bones and pushed them along the curb. It did everything it could to discourage the people walking along the street. It found all the dirt and dust and grime on the sidewalk and lifted it up so that the dirt got into their noses, making it difficult to breathe; the dust got into their eyes and blinded them; and the grit stung their skins." This quote portrays the setting clearly by explaining what the wind did to the
My readings suggest the Hispanic culture gender roles are very common and strict. Starting early in life children are taught to follow the strict guidelines of their gender (American Home Resources, 2010). There exists three common gender specific scripts in Hispanic culture; females can either be “Marianismo” or “Hembrismo”, and, males are classified as “Machismo”. The two female roles differ greatly; “Marianismo” defines behaviors of women as being obedient, dependent and caring for their children. The “Hembrismo” role stresses a female’s strength to persist through life’s difficulties; however, this role is not accepted widely in their culture. The “Machismo” role describes behaviors of men as being dominant and independent. This role views the man as being in charge of the family. (Peñalosa,
There are many themes in this book such as teamwork, humanity, there is a silver lining in every storm, and no matter how bad things are everything will turn out okay, and the other theme is it is hard to tell who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist in the book. However the three most important are those that were just mentioned which are Thomas, Teresa, and the organization known as WICKED. The reason that all of these themes are important is that they share something in common with one another. Such as humanity and teamwork humans are one of the few creatures on this world that will work together to accomplish something. The other two also share that no matter how hard things get there's always been a way out of it.The next four paragraphs are meant to show how each one of the themes no matter how different they are, they each hold a little in common with each other.
To Kill A Mockingbird clearly portrays three very important themes. Prejudice is very prevalent in this novel including social and racial prejudice. Another theme shown is heroism, including an unlikely character. Education is a core theme in the book as Atticus clearly implies to his children. In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee powerfully portrays themes like prejudice, heroism and education in some ways the reader doesn’t expect.
Every culture has its own unique values, beliefs and norms. Culture defines the identity and interests of a society. Understanding other’s culture is crucial in preparing ourselves for the global experience in the twenty-first century. As the world is becoming more connected to each other, interaction between cultures is unavoidable. I consider myself lucky to live in one of the most diverse cities in the world where I get chance to interact with people of different cultures. In this paper, I will discuss my findings about Family Structure in a Mexican culture, and Dating and Marriage in an African / Gabonese culture. Having a chance to understand various cultures, I realized that beliefs and practices tend to vary from culture to culture.
Another theme is the ability of a person to have some dignity even when it feels like the world is against you. These themes remain important today because it teaches us what can happen to a person if their dreams are never fulfilled. For example, Walter had a dream to open a liquor store, however this dream never came true after Willy (the person Walter gave the money too to open the store) betrayed him. He broke down and felt hopeless. It also teaches us that dignity is important, Walter also portrayed his need for dignity after he rejects the offer of Mr. Linder from the“home improvement
In our culture, a person’s gender can hold them back or propel them in the work force, in social situations, and even in childrearing. Girls are taught that more feminine qualities are important for them to obtain. These traits include being more caring, compassionate, and understanding, as well as quiet, and patient. All of these traits are seen as necessary to raise children. Boys are raised to have more masculine qualities, which do not include being patient, expressive of one’s emotions, and nonaggressive behaviors. Men are taught that they should be aggressive and able to defend their family. This includes being able to provide financially for their family. When this is not achieved men are quickly judged and scrutinized. Our society places a debilitating stigma upon men who are stay at home fathers; it makes them appear weaker and more feminine, which is a quality that is frowned upon in
There are many themes that occur and can be interpreted differently throughout the novel. The three main themes that stand out most are healing, communication, and relationships.
In The Way To Rainy Mountain, the author N. Scott Momaday makes a clear use of figurative language throughout the story and descriptive language to describe the nature around them, explains their myths about how their tribe came to be a part of nature, as well as the importance in nature that are a part of the Sundance festival and the tai-me.
Latin American society places a great deal of importance on the family as a support network; it is not uncommon for several generations to reside in the same house. This emphasis is called familismo, and the mother in the family is usually the most important figure. She “is seen as the primary nurturer and caregiver in the family…[and] plays a critical role in preservation of the family as a unit, as well as in...
Latino/a Americans are also one of the fastest growing ethnic minority groups according to the United States Census Bureau (date). When looking into the Latino/a American culture, the most important values leisure time, activities, the Catholic church, and family relationships (Saracho & Spodek, 2005). Andres-Hyman, Ortiz, Anez, Paris, and Davidson (2006) state Latino/a Americans, like Asian Americans and African Americans, value collectivism, interdependence, and cooperation. Religion is also extremely important to the family and plays a huge role in daily life. Some families believe being socially well-educated is more important than being academically well-educated, and if an individual knows how to behave properly in a social setting, they will honor their family in the eyes of the community (Saracho & Spodek, 2005, p. 212). Latino/as rely on their family, community, traditional healers, and/or church for help during a health crisis, and value marianismo, which refers to traits in women including moral nurturing and self-sacrifice (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2014); the male counterpart, machismo refers to the belief that men should be strong and provide for their families (Andres-Hymean et al., 2006). Andres-Hyman et al. talk about the three major cultural constructs worth noting in the Latino American culture. The first construct is dignidad y respeto, which means dignity and respect. Familismo means family values and emphasizes family relationships and family loyalty. Lastly, personalismo refers to relating to one another on a personal level instead of a formal or institutional level. Latino/a culture also values building interpersonal relationships, and if one is unable to interact with others due to a...
The most obvious of the themes is that of violence, brutality, and torture. Tied into this also is the idea of injustice. Many of these themes are intertwined. Constantly the reader is berated with violent images, or descriptions of violence. These must be on nearly every second page of the novel. A good example of all these themes together is in the section called “Moderate Pressure: Part Two” This deals with a story of a man called Ghassan who was accused of an affiliation with an illegal group that could not be proven. Ghassan was forced to stand or sit in certain positions for hours on end, he was beaten, deprived of sleep, and restricted from medical attention that he needed. Continually he went to court, and the case was adjourned to later dates to try to confiscate some kind of evidence against him. There was no justice for Ghassan until after several days (approximately 14); he was released for lack of evidence. Ghassan suffers from violence (which is unjust), from brutality (one of the inspectors trying to induce a heart attack), and torture. Ghassan’s ordeal is illustrated in both written and pictorial form. Likewise to this, there are many other pictorial examples and textual examples from front to back of violence, brutality, injustice, and torture .