Character Development in Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang
Search and Rescue, Utah State Police, and Bishops of the Church of Latter-Day Saints chase a group of bridge destroying, billboard burning, bulldozer mutilating eco-terrorists through the desert of the Southwest. The group known as the Monkey Wrench Gang consists of four very different characters: Seldom Seen Smith, also known as Joseph Smith, George Washington Hayduke, Doctor A. K. Sarvis, and Bonnie Abbzug. Each character has his own opinion of why nature needs to be saved. The group decides to make their mark on nature by "taking care" of the different machines, roads and bridges that are destroying it. With all the destruction the gang is causing, being caught is expected. However, the gang narrowly escapes the law numerous times. After finally giving in to the pressures of being good citizens and serving time in jail for destroying public property, the gang reunites for their final destructive mission: Glen Canyon Dam. Edward Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), uses language, appearances, actions and opinions to make each character likable to the conservative reader.
Abbey uses his strong feelings about the beauty of the Southwest to shape the opinions of each of his characters. Doc Sarvis, a medical surgeon from Albuquerque, has no strong or lasting relationships. "His few close friends were always sent away, returning rarely, the bonds of affection no stronger than the web of correspondence" (12-13). Doc?s closest friend, and coworker, is Ms. Bonnie Abbzug. Doc and Bonnie spend most of their downtime destroying billboards with economic meanings, because "Somebody has to do it" (43). Such billboards worthy of destruction read "Marine Corps bu...
... middle of paper ...
...ng nurse on the right buttock and shambled on shaky hind legs out the side door up the alleyway . . . into the padded darkness of the nearest bar" (213). With Smith being the logical member of the gang, "he listens with the concentrated intensity of a buck in hunting season" (337). When he finally hears something, "he stops. Suddenly. Doc, Bonnie and Hayduke stumble into his rear like the Three Stooges, three clowns in a silent movie" (336).
While reading The Monkey Wrench Gang, many images appear in one?s mind. The uses of Edward Abbey?s skill of developing characters through language, appearance, actions and opinions make this novel more enjoyable to read. The shaping of each character persuades the reader to believe that, "Oh my desert, yours is the only death I cannot bear."
Work Cited
Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang. 1975. New York: Avon Books.
As most people know speech and language issues would only happen with children just learning to talk and tennagers in middle school to high school. The reasoning behind this is because most people don’t correct their children’s speech when they are first learning due to the fact that the parents or grandparents think it is to cute to correct, which only hurts the children more th...
McCleery et al. (2006) studied the speech sound development of minimally verbal and nonverbal children with ASD and compared their development to typically developing children who were matched for language production and comprehension skills. Their findings indicate that children with ASD, even those that are severely language delayed, show the same general consonant production patterns as typically developing children. Moreover, the production pattern of children with ASD is practically identical for sounds produced spontaneously and sounds produced in imitation....
Perkins, George B., and Barbara Perkins. "The Beast in the Jungle." The American Tradition in Literature (concise). 12th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. 1148-1177. Print.
...in their family to become sick and possibly die. Many people were accused of witchcraft. More than twenty people died all together. One person was flattened to death because he was accused of witchcraft. When people were accused they had to go to jail, which the conditions were terrible. Then, they had to get a trial from the Court of Oyer and Terminer. After an accused witch had their trial, and went to jail, they would be carted off to Gallows Hill. This was the hill where all the witches were hanged. After a witch was hanged, later that night, their family would usually take the body down and give it a proper burial. The Salem Witchcraft Trials were one of the most terrible times in the history of America. As you can see the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
This paper will be broken into nine paragraphs including the opening and concluding paragraph. My opening paragraph will consist of a thesis sentence that sets the stage for seven body paragraphs. The first body paragraph will focus on how symbolism progresses a story whether the power it holds is for good or evil. The second body paragraph will be about the signal fire overpowers the boys on the island. The third body paragraph will focus on how the fire brought the boys hope. The fourth body paragraph will then focus on how the Lord of the Flies empowers insanity and obstructs the progress of the island. The fifth body paragraph will focus on Ralph’s ability to progress forward. The sixth body paragraph will counter that and focus on his fallibility to maintain order. The seventh body paragraph will include Jack’s constant need to oppose or be in-charge himself. Finally the conclusion will bring everything together, focusing on how symbols directed the course of the book, mainly the signal fire. I will also discuss the importance of the symbols that appeared throughout the novel and how it would have been drastically different, again mainly the signal fire.
The novel; “Lord of the Flies” is a highly renowned novel written by William Golding and published in 1954. The novel embodies many themes and events that are mysterious and unanticipated for the reader. During the course of the essay I will explain how the conch shell that is found at the foundation of the first chapter plays a significant role throughout the novel and how diverse themes are brought on from this influential shell. This essay will express an opinion on the conch shell, in the end has more power and order than the actual ‘beast’ that is signified on the island. I will also explore the social leadership of the conch throughout the novel which will also touch on a few themes that the conch shell plays a role in. The conch shell is one of the first real theme/symbol that readers are introduced too and stands its power for most of the novel which is why it should be explored in further detail in this essay.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of British schoolboys are stranded on an island, and soon find that fending for themselves and staying civilized is not as easy as they thought it would be. Although they start off with an organized society, through interactions with each other and objects around them, they become completely savage over time. Golding employs the symbolism of Jack, the conch shell, and the beast to serve the purpose of the allegory of the inherent evil of the human race.
Tim Sutter, Salem Witchcraft: The Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials, http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/salemwitchcraft.html (accessed November 2, 2013)
The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692 in Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts (Salem Witch Trials, 2014). There were over two hundred people accused of practicing witch craft and nineteen were executed for it. Religion was extremely important to the Puritans, regardless of age, and individual differences were frowned upon (Source 4). Puritans were expected to live by a strict moral code. They believed that all sins deserved a punishment and that if something bad happened such as their neighbor having a sick child or a failed crop, they did not help because it was God’s will. It is important to note, that at this time, the Puritans believed that the Devil gave weak people special, evil powers if they pledged their loyalty to him. These people were called witches (Blumberg, 2007).
Katon, W., and Sullivan, M. D., (1990) Depression and Chronic Mental Illness. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, v.51. pgs. 8-19
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Lipking, Lawrence I, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Through vivid yet subtle symbols, the author weaves a complex web with which to showcase the narrator's oppressive upbringing. Two literary
This leads to the fact that a beast really does exist within all human beings, but is only expressed when human instinct for survival becomes the main objective. At first the boys aren?t able to kill, but as survival instinct starts taking over, the reader?s are able to se the true character?s play out, and lives are compromised. ?You feel as if you?re not hunting, but- being hunted, as if something?s behind you all the time in the jungle,? (pg.53) proves that it?s every man for himself and people will do anything to survive. An example of this in the novel was when Robert became the ?pig,? and was wounded even though it wasn?t intentional, but the situation became worse when Piggy?s death happened as a result of all civilization lost and evil taken over.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.