Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Carlo was fighting for Italy, while Mandras was in the Greek army.
Both of the characters experienced a lot during the war. Nevertheless
everything
Mandras and Carlo fought on opposite sides. What does it say about the
novels moral scheme, that the sufferings of ordinary people on both
sides are recounted in detail? Consider these two characters but also
other “moral” issues raised in the novel so far.
Mandras and Carlo fought on opposite sides. Their experiences and
feelings through out the war are recounted to the readers in a lot of
details. And even though they were “enemies”, their stories are very
similar, as if the author is talking about the same man. This style of
narration tells us something about the moral scheme of the novel. De
Bernieres is trying to show the readers that there is no difference
between human beings. That they all share similar feelings and have
similar ideas about life. However similarity between people is not the
only “moral” issue that is being raised, the author also raises the
question about religion, education, sufferings and of course of love.
In this essay I will primarily discuss the similarities between
people, concentrating mostly on the two main characters: Carlo and
Mandras. And then I will talk about the other “moral” issues raised in
the novel so far.
Carlo was fighting for Italy, while Mandras was in the Greek army.
Both of the characters experienced a lot during the war. Nevertheless
everything that has happened to them is very similar. First of all,
both of the characters had a completely wrong impression of what war
is like. They both believed that it was something glorious, something
worthwhile. Carlo wa...
... middle of paper ...
...vive if a person doesn’t have a soul,
however the souls of soldiers “diminished to a tiny point of grey
light”. They no longer believed as they saw all the sufferings of the
people, which in the end were useless. Instead of praying to God, they
started praying to the people they loved, as they believed that unlike
God their beloved ones wouldn’t forget them. “I had you instead of the
Virgin, I even prayed to you.” (p.157). During the war, the soldiers
completely lost their faith and hope. So as we can see the role of
religion in people’s lives is also an important “moral” issue that is
raised in the novel.
All of these factors tell us that there are several different moral
schemes in the novel. And the development of each issue depends on the
situation that the person is in, and not on the person himself, as in
the end all the humans are very similar.
Giovanni & Lusanna-by Gene Brucker In the story Giovanni and Lusanna , written and researched by Gene Brucker, there is a woman who has taken her alleged husband to court, because he has married another woman. The story is a factual account of what transpired during this court case and the remainder of Giovanni¹s life. There are several similarities between their world and ours, but for the most part we live in a totally different environment. Our standards of living have greatly improved, but more than that our society has grown more tolerant toward the people who deviate from everyday standards.
Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow, was originally published in 1975, and later became a musical that premiered at the Toronto Centre for the Arts in 1996. The story illustrates three families’ journeys in the changing society of America during the 1920s. Each family is in a different position of society. One family is rich and white and lives in the exclusive upper class neighborhood of New Rochelle, NY. Their lives are sheltered and privileged. Another family is African American. They live in Harlem, which was populated only by African Americans at the time. The main character in this family that we follow, Coalhouse, is a Ragtime piano player. The next family represents the immigrants of that time. Tateh, a Jewish immigrant, arrives at Ellis Island and faces the challenges of achieving the American dream. Although they dream of riches, they begin life in America in poverty. The fictional story of Ragtime accurately depicts history. The story gives a realistic picture of what New York City was like at that time by using fictional and real people and describing events in the book that mirror real life. "Based on the bestseller by E.L. Doctorow, "Ragtime" artfully blends historical events (immigration, the industrial revolution, the birth of the civil-rights movement, women's suffrage and the invention of motion pictures) and historical figures (Henry Ford, Booker T. Washington, Harry Houdini, Emma Goldman, Admiral Perry) with fictional characters to paint a nation in the making in the early 20th century" (Jim Ruth).
The Two Gentlemen of Verona deals with the debate over the relative merits of love and friendship between two young courtiers Valentine and Proteus. One of the great debates of the Renaissance was the discussion of whether the love of a woman was a sentiment more noble than the friendship that might exist between men. We also see the first instances of later female heroines in the qualities of Julia and Silvia.
“From Lieutenant Nun,” a memoir written by doña Catalina de Erauso, tells an intriguing story of a young Spanish female and her advantageous journey through Spain and the New World. Her family intends for her to become a nun but, that is not the life she seeks for herself. Therefore, she breaks away from the convent in hopes of finding somewhere to make her fortune by passing as a male. Catalina’s story is noteworthy because it gives readers another perspective of exploration focusing on self-discovery during the seventeenth century emphasizing how passing as a male is the only thing that secured her ability to explore. In the memoir, Catalina repeatedly reminisces about clothing and, whether she consciously or unconsciously does so, she allows the reader to see that this is an important aspect of her exploration. Throughout Catalina’s journey, clothing plays an increasingly important role not only in her travels but, also her personal life because it symbolized ones status, role, gender and privileges.
George Gershwin's "The ultimate collection", is a compilation of Gershwin's greatest hits. The compilation is made out of two CD's; the first cd is Gershwins pieces sung by different jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and more… The second cd, is Gerswhin's famous pieces taken from musical shows such as Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue, Cuban overture, Funny face and more.
...ndicates a level of justification each felt in their actions. These actions, immortalized in two of the most widely read classics of all time, even today call into question the values each society held so dear, and led the modern reader to explore what honor and traditional gendered values mean both in these societies and our own.
In “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, was a great poem that can mean many different things to many different people of this world. To me I think it was just a boy who just wanted to spend time with his dad before he has to go to bed. The boy probably does not get to spend time with his dad that much. The father probably works all day and all week and this is the only time the boy gets to spend with him. Roethke use of words in this poem is amazing. The use of the words in this story can mean different things to the reader. The first word to look at is the word waltz. In the dictionary the word waltz is a dance for a fast triple meter song. This is just what the father is doing with his son but his is drunk and dizzy. “But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy (Roethke)” The word death is not what people usually think but nobody can shake or get away from death. So the boy was holding on to his father where his father could not get away from him like the boy did not want him to go. “We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf (Roethke)” another word to understand is romped. The word romped means to play or frolic in a lively or boisterous manner. To go deeper in the definition boisterous means rough and noisy. While the father and the son are playing around dancing they are also messing up the house as well. Messing up the kitchen will make any mother mad and that is what happens next. Of out any other place in the house the kitchen is the woman’s throne room. “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle; at every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle (Roethke).” In lines 9-12 you can tell that the father has came back from a long day of work. The father’s job has to be doing something wi...
Any interpretation of this story is due to the reader’s personal emotions and feelings toward his or her own Papa. This story can be either a dance between him and his father, thus bringing them closer together. However, there is a darker side of this poem, on this side it is an unsettling fight between a boy and his drunken father and all the intimacy of the dance does not make an impression on the reader and is overshadowed by the anger they feel.
Voltaire’s most classic work, Candide, is a satiric assault on most everything that was prevalent in society during the author’s lifetime. The entire novel can be regarded as a bleak story where every character compares life stories to see whose life is worse. Just when the novel cannot get anymore morbid or depressing, it does, to a much greater degree. While Candide is generally considered a universal denunciation, it is optimism that Voltaire is attacking to the greatest degree. However, there are numerous other satirical themes throughout the novel worth discussing. These other areas of mockery include aristocratic snobbery, religious bigotry, militarism, and human nature.
Music for Eighteen Musicians (MFEM) is a minimalist composition by Steve Reich written between 1974 and1976. Though this piece was a culmination of Reich’s previous minimalist work, it was also innovative in its elements of structure and harmony. Reich emphasizes this point in saying “there is more harmonic movement in the first five minutes of Music for Eighteen Musicians than in any complete work of mine to date.” It was also his first attempt at composing for a large ensemble building upon his frequent use of piano and pitched percussion with a violin, a cello and two clarinets. The context leading up to the composition of Music for Eighteen Musicians sheds light onto the reason why it was composed and in a greater sense why Minimalism as a whole was born.
Imagine yourself, dear reader, transported to Shakespearian Verona, a bustling, peaceful city (aside from the occasional death or two), with its obligatory social classes going about agreeably (aside from the occasional brawl or two), and all people happy and successful (aside from the occasional poor wretch or two). The Verona in which Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet takes place in is made sinister by the deadly consequences than ensue from its strict, unbending society. Romeo and Juliet paints a tale about two young lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, whose attempts to be together are cruelly thwarted by society. Society’s fixation on honor and disgrace, poverty-creating laws, and austere social roles all have crucial functions in causing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
This paper will explore the three elements of innate evil within William Golding's, Lord of the Flies, the change from civilization to savagery, the beast, and the battle on the island. Golding represents evil through his character's, their actions, and symbolism. The island becomes the biggest representation of evil because it's where the entire novel takes place. The change from civilization to savagery is another representation of how easily people can change from good to evil under unusual circumstances. Golding also explores the evil within all humans though the beast, because it's their only chance for survival and survival instinct takes over. In doing so, this paper will prove that Lord of the Flies exemplifies the innate evil that exists within all humans.
person of the novel, different traits that can lead us to talk about virtue, and one of them is
Reckless actions lead to untimely deaths. In Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, both protagonists fight for their hopeless love. Bloodshed and chaos appear inevitable in fair Verona; Romeo and Juliet come from enemy households, the Montegues and the Capulets, who have sworn to defeat one another. The young and handsome Romeo weeps over his unrequited love for Rosaline, until he lays his eyes on Juliet. Strong and independent, Juliet seeks to escape her family’s will to marry her off to Paris, a kinsman of the Prince. Fate ties these adolescents’ lives together binding them to witness the ill-fortunes of Romeo and Juliet’s love. Romeo and Juliet prove themselves woefully impulsive through their words and actions, which ultimately lead them along a series of unfortunate mishaps.
In the short story " The story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, she writes about the impact of being in the social institution of marriage. The author masterfully describes the Protagonist, imagery and irony that captures the readers' attention, and emotions of grief, hope, and joy. As author Kate Chopin brings our attention to these exquisite feelings, she addresses the conflicts one might face as they join into the joys of marriage.