Experiences influence our values and attitudes, enabling us to discover not only hidden ideas and objects, but also re-evaluate our pasts and what we know of ourselves and the world around us. Michael Gow’s play Away juxtaposes the experiences of Australian families on holiday as the characters achieve a fresh new perspective through their interactions with others, discovering the value of family. The characters’ experience of grief and loss allows them to re-examine their past-life, the person they were presenting themselves as and their attitudes. Similarly, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s monologue poem, Ulysses allows the audience to a develop deep understanding of the poet’s thirst and emphasis for new adventures and their power in shaping our …show more content…
Individuals struggle to understand their own reactions to the loss and suffering they have experienced. Roy’s demand that has his wife Coral ‘take stock, come back to reality’ exemplifies his initial lack of understanding of her grief at the death of their son. His longing for her to ‘be like you were’ is tragically undermined as Coral’s consuming emotional devastation leads her to indiscriminately seek out and cling to the other characters as she gradually yearns to make sense of her loss. At the beginning of the play, Gow includes a lengthy search for a set of keys between Gwen and her husband, symbolising their ignorance and their need to gain a sense of control and security over their lives. Tom plays both the comic sprite Puck and the tragic Lear, and the theme of healing through insight and death is perturbing, given his own approaching death. His father Harry discovers the ability to accept Tom’s inevitable demise, stating that ‘in a funny kind of way we’re happy. Even when we’re very, very sad.’ The responders are not presented with a linear set of discoveries and positive transformations in Away; rather, they are strongly forced to acknowledge the complex, comic and tragic elements in the characters’ lives. Gow’s inclusion of intertextual references is consciously metatheatrical as the play is framed by other plays, beginning with a Shakespearean comedy and ending with a speech from the tragedy …show more content…
The poem Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson explores this concept. The dramatic monologue is told from the perspective of Ulysses, the king of Ithaca. Ulysses travelled and explored the unknown world, and has now “known and seen many cities of men, councils, climates, governments” and so on. The alliteration “councils” and “climates” as well as the listing style Tennyson employs conveys the deep understanding of the world Ulysses has developed as a result of uncovering what was previously hidden. However, his most major discovery in his own life’s purpose; “to chase knowledge like a shooting star”. The simile further supports Ulysses longing to uncover more of the hidden world, as well as the limited time he has to do so. Ulysses’ imminent death is referenced repeatedly throughout the poem, such as the symbolic “long day wanes, the slow moon climbs”. The effect of it is it builds a sense of urgency and a need to seek out discoveries before the characters run out of time. Ulysses accepts that death ends everything, but he is also determined to “drink life to the lees”. The alliteration of “life” and “lees” emphasises on the important of living life to the fullest throughout the discovery. In the fine line, Ulysses explains that he is willing “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” and that that motto in life sustains him to move on and continuously
Both awe-inspiring and indescribable is life, the defined “state of being” that historians and scholars alike have been trying to put into words ever since written language was first created. And in the words of one such intellectual, Joshua J. Marine, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”. Essentially, he is comparing life to a bowl of soup. Without challenges or hardships into which we can put forth effort and show our potential, it becomes a dull and flavorless broth. But for characters in novels like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
The characters inhabit their private realities in order to detach themselves from a world that confuses and alienates them. Laura, Amanda, Tom, and Jim prefer to immerse themselves in their narrow view of time rather than embrace the flow of time. Laura remains isolated as she has failed to find love. Amanda judges Laura as she imposes her own narrow expectations on her. Tom believes that he can escape reality and become inseparable from the imaginary worlds of movies. Jim's idealistic view of Laura suggests that he is out of touch with reality. The play demonstrates that the characters desire to escape reality due to their inability to live in the present and embrace the flow of
During a time of great change, both ideally and physically, in Australian history, a young man by the name of Michael Dransfield made his presence known in the highly evolving scene of poetry. Dransfield was an eccentric character, to say the least, and was recognized for his masterful ability of truly capturing the essence of many of life’s situations. Regardless of the “heaviness” or the difficulties of the subject matter being portrayed throughout his poetry, Dransfield was mentally equipped to fully encompass any life experience and dawn light on some of its “eternal truths” in the world. Although he tragically died of a heroin overdose in 1973 (he was 24 years old), Dransfield made a lasting impression on Australian poetry; never to be forgotten and to be forever considered “one of the foremost poets of the ’68 generation of counter-cultural dreamers” (Chan, 2002).
Joyce Carol Oates' message of life and transitions is best understood when the reader brings his or her interpretation to meet with the author's intention at a middle ground. This type of literary analysis is known as Reader Response. In Reader-Response, the emphasis is placed on "the idea that various readers respond in various ways, and therefore [the] readers as well as authors 'create' meaning" (Barnet, et. al. 1997). In this story of life passages and crucial events, it is imperative that the reader has a solid response to Oates' efforts in order to fully comprehend the message. Literature is a combined meeting between the intentions of the author and the reaction of the reader.
“Our life’s journey of self-discovery is not a straight-line rise from one level of consciousness to another. Instead, it is a series of steep climbs, and flat plateaus, then further climbs. Even though we all approach the journey from different directions, certain of the journey’s characteristics are common for all of us.” Author Stuart Wilde’s impression of journeys and their shared commonalities supports the claim that all journeys have a motive and an outcome. In the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus sets off to defeat Troy, leaving his wife and child behind. After accomplishing his goal, Odysseus faces many problems while trying to return him and his crew back home to Ithaca. Similar to Odysseus’s physical journey, the goal in
Discoveries can be emotionally meaningful and confronting, and can lead individuals to new values and changes. This is evident in the play ‘Away’ by Michael Gow which explores the self-discovery and transformations of differing characters. Through the constant problems and events of an iconic Australian trip to the coast, the character Tom realises the severity of his sickness and that there will be certain aspects of life he will never experience. Ed Sheeran’s ‘Castle on the Hill’ further emphasises the idea of experiencing new aspects of life and the importance of these. Both texts, ‘Away’ and ‘Castle on the Hill’, reflect on the transformations of an individual after the discovery of the significance of life, ultimately leading to new values.
Part of the genius of this piece is that it is like an onion, with many layers, and can be interpreted on many different levels. At first, I despised the character of Troy Maxson. I could not feel sympathy for a man who had achieved a certain level of satisfaction and stability in a life of struggle, and then threw it all away.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Discoveries can be confronting when individuals leave their familiar worlds. However, venturing into the unknown can result in growth and transformation. The consequences of a discovery can lead an individual into discovering themselves and have a change of perspective of the world and society. Through Michael Gow’s play, Away, and Shaun Tan’s picture book, The Red Tree, both composers shape the meaning of discovery through characters’ isolation, as the manifestation of self-discovery is powerfully communicated through the utilisation of dramatic and visual techniques.
Therefore, analysis of ‘The Simple Gift’ and ‘The River that wasn’t ours’ reveals belonging as an essential aspect to the human condition. One can feel connections to people and place through the varied nature of belonging. However, the consequences of not belonging can be detrimental to the individual or group and can result in feelings of displacement and distress.
Our perception about the world change as we grow up and experience the reality of life. This is the necessary and universal experience that we all must undergo to face the world successfully. The protagonists in James Joyce’s “Araby” and Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls experience a common initiation of how different the world is, compared to how they would like to see. The reader is given a glance into the lives of two adolescents. The protagonists in both stories are of the growing age and their perceptions about the world change. These changes contradict with their past perceptions and leads life in a different direction. Both Joyce and Munro unfold series of bizarre life thrilling experience from the daily life of the protagonists to create the universal lesson of how different the world is, compare to how they would like to see. But the way, this necessary and universal lesson learn differs with each protagonist. The boy’s initiation in “Araby” comes, when the girl (Mangan’s sister) come in his life. After his encounter with her his life completely change forever and he wants to be his own man. The initiation of the Young girl in “Boys and Girls” comes, after watching the shooting of horse “Mack” and letting “Flora” the other horse, out of the gate. Letting Flora free is indeed the protagonist’s way of watching world. After watching shooting of “Mack” she does not want “Flora” to face the same miserable death like “Mack”. She thinks letting Flora free save Flora from shooting.
Our entire life is an ongoing journey, but we are not on our own. We have family and friends with us guiding us no matter how far the destination or no matter how difficult the situation, we are never alone. This situation is the same for everyone, even those who live in the pages of a book, such as Homer’s epic tale, The Odyssey, and from John Kuol’s story, “Escaping Death”. The Odyssey and “Escaping Death” are similar, but yet different because of the time period, perspectives, and lifestyles of their characters. For example, “Escaping Death” has a more realistic occasion where Kuol struggles for survival to be reunited with his family while The Odyssey is more historical with Odysseus confronting greek mythological creatures. Both
Poetry and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 9nd ed. New York: Longman, 2005. Pgs 389-392
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
The two texts that this essay will compare and contrast are the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald and the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller. Both works are based around the central topic of ‘the American Dream’ and the unceremonious death of it. However, the journeys that the protagonists take to meet their tragic ends are very different though the motives involved are accused murder and adultery. This essay’s aim is to determine whether the novel or the play best is more successful in engaging and provoking the reader. This will be done by analysing characters, plot lines and the main/recurring themes throughout.
...old age or barriers, he will always strive to fulfill his goals. The experiences of Odysseus and Ulysses are tributes to the power of the human spirit; one can achieve much if they are determined.