Everyday people across the world embark on incredible journeys. These journeys, however big or small, can greatly change a person. They can define who that person is and how that person acts. In Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, many characters go through changes or have their true character tested. Ada realizes that all of her learning through books will not really help her in the real world circumstances that she becomes surrounded in. She has to change adapt to her new life with the help of Ruby. Inman constantly battles good against evil. He struggles through physical and mental weakness to ultimately try to do good. His life is traumatized by the horrors of the war, yet he must continue his strenuous journey. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier explores the concept of a dynamic character in Ada and a consciences character in Inman and how they deal with their separate, difficult journeys. Both characters also try to find their own sense of home and struggle with their own kind of isolation.
Inman’s character is a confusing one. Inman seems like everything he is doing is a task and not necessarily what he wants. The idea of his whole journey stems from his moral obligation to return to Ada. Inman’s moral perspective rules his actions throughout the novel. Inman also cannot stand death, yet he will do anything to protect those who are innocent. He becomes disillusioned with the world and hopes fore the world to become a better place. However, throughout his journey he does grow into a more self aware individual. He begins to understand where he stands in society and starts to comprehend how the world around him behaves. The way Inman matures is greatly influenced by the other characters he encounters on his journey. A common typ...
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...es in Ada’s arms shortly after returning back to his home. However, this might even be Inman’s best outcome. His long journey has been filled with suffering and turmoil. Therefore, Inman’s only real way of escaping the demanding natural world is death. He is relieved of all his duties and disgust for the world. It almost seemed like Inman was dead on the inside for the majority of this novel. The war definitely caused this dead feeling inside of Inman. The things Inman saw and experienced during the war made him dead inside and therefore almost zombie-like.
To conclude, Cold Mountain tells the journeys of many characters. These characters all react differently to their changing settings. One thing that the main characters have in common is that they all mature through the hardship. None of them give up on their life and they all persevere to their respective goals.
The book “A Long Way From Chicago” is an adventurous and funny story. The story takes place at Joey Dowdel’s Grandmothers farm house in the country. Joey and his sister Mary Alice were sent to their Grandma’s house during the summer because their parents had to go to Canada for their work. At first, Joey felt uncomfortable with his Grandmother because he had never met her before but eventually he got to know her and they became close friends.
The archetype of the journey is seen in Charles Frazier’s novel Cold Mountain, most clearly through experience Inman has wandering back to Cold Mountain. The journey archetype sends the hero in search of some truth to restore order and harmony to the land. The journey often includes the series of trials and tribulations the hero faces along the way. Usually the hero descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover the blackest truths. Once the hero is at his lowest level, he must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living. Inman’s trip fits this description very well in some ways and not in others. It could be said that Inman’s search for truth is his desire to be back home. He has been disillusioned by the war. He saw horrible scenes daily and fought for his life. By coming home to Ada and his mundane life is a welcome constant for him in a world he has recently determined to be wild. He believed that once he had reached his destination, order in his personal world and soul could begin to return to normal. In accordance with the definitions of the archetype journey, Inman goes through a great deal angst and tribulations. He has practically starved many times, been mugged, and fired upon. This strife is culminated when he his betrayed and shanghaied, marched nearly to death, then shot and left for dead. He is buried with a thin layer of dirt in a mass grave, and spends half a day under ground with the dead.
Drifters by Bruce Dawe This poem is about a family that’s always on the move, with no place to settle down for long, hence the poem was titled ‘Drifters’ to describe this family. ‘Drifters’ looks at the members of this family response to frequently change and how it has affected them. This poem is told in third person narration in a conversational tone. This gives the feeling as if someone who knows this family is telling the responder the situation of this family.
There are people existing among us with a special trait or characteristic that makes them stand out above the masses. They are “heroes” in a sense, who perform great acts of sacrifice and promote hope when it seems that the last drop of faith has evaporated from one’s soul. These individuals remind us of saints who walked before us, healing and caring for the sick and destitute when no other man dared. Author, Tracy Kidder (2004), brings to the forefront the noble deeds of a modern day saint, Paul Farmer, through his writing in Mountains Beyond Mountains. He illustrates how a single man can lead nations toward healing, even in the midst of war, turmoil, limited resources, or “mountains” of bureaucratic red tape. Although the book tells a story about Farmer’s life, academic achievements, and global contributions toward curing infectious diseases, the main theme, as illustrated by the book title, is that no matter what a person does, there is always more to be done. Beyond the hills and valleys of Farmer’s journey, Kidder (2004) provides scenes of leadership styles along the way. Is a leader born or is leadership learned? A review of Paul Farmer’s mission, through the eyes of the author, may provide insight to support both philosophies.
Sam Woods is a very important character in the novel In the Heat of the Night. He is a racist, and throughout the novel you will notice many changes in his attitude towards Negros.
Henry Ford is a prime example of a company unsuccessfully attempting to expand overseas. Ford realized that producing his own supply of rubber materials would drastically cut down on expenses and therefore make his own business much more successful. While Ford may not be the nicest or fairest man towards other people, everyone can agree that he has lived a very successful life, becoming famous for single-handedly revolutionizing the automobile industry. However, despite his success in America, his Fordlandia project abroad was a complete failure due to many reasons. As Fordlandia never justified its existence economically, increasingly it was billed as a civilizing mission to take American values to another country and its people.
To fully appreciate the significance of the plot one must fully understand the heroic journey. Joseph Campbell identified the stages of the heroic journey and explains how the movie adheres meticulously to these steps. For example, the first stage of the hero’s journey is the ordinary world (Campbell). At the beginning, the structure dictates that the author should portray the protagonist in their ordinary world, surrounded by ordinary things and doing ordinary tasks so that the author might introduce the reasons that the hero needs the journey in order to develop his or her character or improve his or her life (Vogler 35). The point of this portrayal is to show the audience what the protagonist’s life is currently like and to show what areas of his or her life are conflicted or incomplete. When the call to adventure occurs, the protagonist is swept away into another world, one that is full of adventure, danger, and opportunities to learn what needs to be learned. T...
Capote's structure in In Cold Blood is a subject that deserves discussion. The book is told from two alternating perspectives, that of the Clutter family who are the victims, and that of the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The different perspectives allow the reader to relive both sides of the story; Capote presents them without bias. Capote masterfully utilizes the third person omniscient point of view to express the two perspectives. The non-chronological sequencing of some events emphasizes key scenes.
Any events that occur as a child can either have a good impact or a bad impact. Children often learn to cope with certain circumstances differently than adults. The insecurities of Truman Capote’s childhood are psychologically conveyed through the tragic events of In Cold Blood. According to William L. Nance, an associate professor of English, “Some knowledge of Capote’s early life is essential to an understanding of his work, for that work, even through In Cold Blood, bears the clear marks of his childhood” (133). Capote’s parents divorced when he was very young. All throughout his childhood, he moved from relative to relative who each lived in small southern towns. Capote himself even said that it was “the most insecure childhood I know of” (133). He often performed poorly in school although “ . . .Psychological tests proved that his Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was above genius level” (n.p.).
Throughout a lifetime, one can run through many different personalities that transform constantly due to experience and growing maturity, whether he or she becomes the quiet, brooding type, or tries out being the wild, party maniac. Richard Yates examines acting and role-playing—recurring themes throughout the ages—in his fictional novel Revolutionary Road. Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple living miserably in suburbia, experience relationship difficulties as their desire to escape grows. Despite their search for something different, the couple’s lack of communication causes their planned move to Europe to fall through. Frank and April Wheeler play roles not only in their individual searches for identity, but also in their search for a healthy couple identity; however, the more the Wheelers hide behind their desired roles, the more they lose sense of their true selves as individuals and as a pair.
The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.
The climax of the story is when Miles is shot by the Bonewoman. The reader comes to realize that Miles’ choice to live life on the safe side was a mistake:
Is society too egotistical? In Hunters in the Snow, Tobias Wolfe gives an illustration of the selfishness and self-centeredness of humankind through the actions of his characters. The story opens up with three friends going on their habitual hunting routine; their names are Frank, Kenny, and Tub. In the course of the story, there are several moments of tension and arguments that, in essence, exposes the faults of each man: they are all narcissistic. Through his writing in Hunters in the Snow, Wolfe is conveying that the ultimate fault of mankind is egotism and the lack of consideration given to others.
One motif which reappears in the film is the power of nature, especially in relation to the individual. In fact, the film begins with a majestic shot of the Rocky Mountains showing its beauty and height. The beauty of nature and even friendliness of nature changes as the film develops. As the movie progresses the snow still seems white and pure, almost virgin like, but nature becomes an isolating force, not providing the family with a retreat from the pressures of modern life, but forcing the family to turn in on its dysfunctional and psychopathic self. Imprisoned by the snow and the tall mountains , the family seems weak and vulnerable.
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is the tale of nineteen-year-old Flora Poste and the changes she has to go through after the death of her parents. Flora begins her new life living with her friend Mrs. Smiling in the wealthy, upper-class side of London. Flora decides that she would prefer to live in the “real” world so she can gain material for a novel she plans on writing. In order to accomplish this, she chooses to live with her relatives, the Starkadders, at Cold Comfort Farm. Flora’s main reason for living there is to reform the Starkadders’ manners and fix their problems.. Her actions cause the reader to believe she is a malicious person, but Gibbons portrays her as a force of good through confidence, meddling, and sincerity.