The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov is a dramatic play set at a cherry orchard in Russia. Some of the characters that help set the dramatic setting of the play are Lyuboff, Lopahin, and Pishtchik. These characters find life difficult because they fail to understand each other and because they passively submit to their environmental situations without making an effort to rise above them.
Lyuboff is the owner of the cherry orchard, and has lived there her whole life. The estate has been handed down through the generations, and Lyuboff has been left to take care of it. Since Lyuboff has grown up wealthy, she has not learned to manage her money wisely. She wastefully spends and hands out money: "I haven’t any money, my dove…oh, very well…give it to him, Leonid." She does not know how to work in order to regain the money she has spent. She finds herself going into debt and not being able to pay the mortgage. These problems grow so severe that she is forced to sell the orchard.
Lopahin offers to help Lyuboff and her family to get them out of debt. He suggests several ideas such as tearing down buildings and the house, and renting homes on the land that the cherry orchard now grows. He cares not about the sentimental value the orchard holds, but the money that could be made selling it. When told the personal value of the orchard, Lopahin replies: "The only remarkable thing about this cherry orchard is that it’s very big." He also says: "There’s a crop of cherries once every two years…that’s hard to get rid of…nobody buys them." Though this does not make Lopahin a greedy or uncaring person, one might think this is quite awkward.
Pishtchik on the other hand is only out for himself. He too was once wealthy, but had problems spending his money. He begs for money instead of working or earning it, creating even larger debts. When he asks Lyuboff for 240 roubles to pay for his mortgage, she agrees, but is turned away by Gayeff. Pishtchik then relies on luck and a lottery ticket his wife gave him. Throughout the story, he refers to gimmicks in order to make money: "Well—a horse is a fine animal—You can sell a horse." He also talks about counterfeiting money in order to repay his debts. It is not until the end of the story when his luck pays off by finding a large sum of money, which he is able to pay all his debts.
At the beginning of this story the family did not have enough money to support their opulent lifestyle. Mr. Lawrence illustrates their situation like this: "Although they lived in style they felt always an anxiety in the house. There was never enough money." (p. 159) The family scrambles to pay the bills at the end of the month. An unspoken phrase "Whispered" throughout the house, "There must be more money! There must be more money!" (p.160) the whispering said. Even though the family had money, they wanted, they needed, more.
The novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith is a both significant and interesting novel for its fascinating story of Francie Nolan’s physical and emotional growth. To begin, young Francie lets the reader understand that even through poverty, it is important to enjoy the little things in life, to value life itself even when it is evidently polluted by greed. Secondly, as Francie grows up, her fall from innocence during her conflicts in life causes her not to be jaded with the world but to become stronger. Growing up is filled with both joy and acrimony, and Francie Nolan’s life is a great example of how a young woman should grow up to be.
Ralph spends some time contemplating over what must be said and done in the assembly because he knows that “thought was valuable” maturing from his inadequacy as a leader for allowing the group to become disorganized as it is. Ralph blows the conch to do as he has a plan and call the boys for an assembly. He intends it to be serious after the mishap of letting the fire go out which may have ruined their hope of getting rescued. He begins by telling the group that this particular assembly must not be for fun and games but to “put things straight”. He addresses the water with no one bothering to retrieve it in the coconut shells, the shelter that fell to ruins because few people worked on them, the whole island being used as a lavatory which is unsanitary and the importance of not letting the fire go out.
When Ralph sees the naval officer that appears on the island to save them, he realizes that he will return to civilization. The shock causes him to reflect on what has happened. The rescue does not produce joy; instead he feels despair at what he has been through. He is awakened to the reality that he will never be the same. He has lost his innocence and learned about the evil that lurks within himself and all men through his experiences on the island. Ralph’s revelation to his loss of innocence and societal order among the boys is exemplified through the collapse of the attempted Democratic government, the killing of the pig, and the death of Piggy and Simon.
Janie has developed from a little girl into a young lady over the years. She spends most of her days underneath the pear tree surrounding herself with nature. Under the pear tree, Janie is awakening to the idea of love and marriage. She is beginning to be attracted to the opposite gender seen previously from when she kissed Johnny Taylor, a guy who before she did not take interest in his looks. As Janie gazes at the intimacy of the flower and the bee, she sees how the tree is pleased in the end from this exchange. Then, this action dawns to Janie when she realizes this is how love should be, a give and take relationship where both parties benefited from each other. Janie from this experience sets up standards for what her future admirers would
William Golding, the author of the novel Lord of the Flies, used symbolism and amplified surroundings around the characters adroitly. It leads the novel to be successful to epitomize the human society. Golding also exposes human natures and savagery through the character developments.
Ralph then suggests making a signal fire, which would be necessary if they hope to get rescued. The boys scramble off to gather wood to build a fire. Unsure of how to light it, they finally grab Piggy's specs and focus the sunlight to ignite their fire. They were not careful, however, and soon the fire is engulfing half the forest near the mountain. The little boy with the birthmark is noticed to be missing, swallowed up by the raging fire.
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
The play, “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, follows the story of the Youngers, who is an African American family that lives in the suburbs of Chicago during the 1950’s. Together they live a hard life and have to face the harsh reality that African Americans do. Most of the characters follow tradition since they work in low-income jobs, face racism, and limitations that do not allow them to progress. However, one family member steps outside of one tradition in their life, being the character of Beneatha Younger.
In the midst of World War 2, a group of English schoolboys find themselves stranded on a deserted island after their evacuation plane is shot down. With no adult survivors, the boys try to maintain civility by forming a government and electing a leader while they wait for rescue. Conflict immediately arises as Ralph, our protagonist is pitted against another boy named Jack in a fight for power.
The first two boys to meet each other were Ralph and another boy who although he protested, reluctantly accepted the nickname “Piggy”. The boys romped around, having fun swimming and running around until they chanced upon a conch. Piggy suggested to Ralph that he blow the conch to call the others. Ralph figured out how to blow the conch and proceeded to call the others. Slowly but surely, all the remaining survivors started trickling in to the cove where Ralph and Piggy had found the conch. Ralph proposed that they vote for a chief, and the all the boys except for the choir, voted for Ralph. Ralph’s first matter of business is to go on a hunt to make sure that this really is an island. He takes Jack and another boy, Simon and goes to the highest point on the island to scout out their newfound home. The trio confirms their theory that this is an island and they are indeed the sole inhabitants.
One night Jack and two of his tribe members raid the huts of Ralph, Piggy and Samneric. They stole Piggy's glasses, which only had one glass anyway, now making him blind in both eyes. The next day Ralph, Piggy and Samneric travel to the other side of the Island to get the glasses back.
Gore Vidal’s “Lincoln” was an excellent narrative of the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Through Vidal’s portrayal of the personality of Lincoln and the people surrounding him it was easy to get an idea of the leadership role that Lincoln played during presidency. After reading many accounts of Lincoln during my research for my paper, I found that Vidals account was extremely accurate. Most interesting was the commanding yet passive relationship that Lincoln had with the members of his cabinet and his generals. Vidal also gave a portrayal of the capitol during the 1860’s that is seldom mentioned in any of the Literature that I have read. These accounts really help to get a feel for the environment in which Lincoln made his decisions. Lincoln’s family life was also revealed in some detail in the novel which helps us to see the personal dilemmas and tragedies that Lincoln had to overcome while he was president. Overall Vidal’s portrait of Lincoln was interesting and accurate to my knowledge. It gives an extraordinary view of the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln.
The short story “How Much Land Does One Man Need?” is about how a man named Pahom went obsessed with greed. The author believes that Pahom’s greed disconnects him from everything that’s important. Pahom is never satisfied with the land he already has; and he keeps fighting to get more than he already needs. Pahom being blinded by temptations causes him to loss his trust with others around him, and his self control when it comes to more land.
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows a story of boys who are trapped on an island, and must figure out how to survive. The story represents the fall of mankind, as symbolism is present throughout the entire novel. It is best seen through a historical perspective. Golding uses events from his own lifetime, the Operation Pied Paper, and Hitler’s ruling to compare it to the major events, the beginning of the story, and Jack’s personality.