In Little Casino, through the experimentation of contemporary forms of narrative, Gilbert Sorrentino is able to capture a level of accuracy and honesty in representing a life as a collection of moments that is unachievable through conventional plot and characterization normally found in narrative. Sorrentino examines the feelings of love, lust, and death, with their relationship with objects rather than characters or context. Sorrentino captures each moment framing it like a photograph so that they transcend their context and convey a singular feeling independent of character, context, or location. In the chapter ‘Beauty Parade’ (63) Sorrentino captures adolescent lust and the nature of how objects have the ability to create unrealistic expectations …show more content…
From the chapter Imbecile and Slave (51), Sorrentino instead uses objects to associate meaning rather than characters or location, specifically using white revealing clothing or pale-blue dresses to capture lust, sex, or desire. In Imbecile and Slave an unnamed boy is infatuated and dumbfounded by a girl that ‘wore a white, one-piece strapless bathing suit’ which stays consistent with a motif of desire that surfaces continually throughout the book. The girls inhabiting these garments however, in both white underwear and pale blue dresses, are of shifting identity, proving that the object is more meaningful than the subject here. In the narrators commentary he states, “It doesn’t matter what lake in New Jersey this was. They were all alike. It doesn’t matter what the girl’s name was. They were all lovely. Hopatcong, Ellen, Budd, Natalie, Hiawatha, Carole. ‘I’ll close my eyes and she’ll just disappear, I know it, I know it,’ the idiot says. To himself at least.” The characters are unimportant; they become vehicles for the moments that Sorrentino is trying to capture, as well as the location. The ‘idiot’, here, underlines an important motive behind this book for Sorrentino, the characters are created and exist in the minds of the reader, and when the characters are placed behind the sensations that they …show more content…
Instead of the boy, the man Fat Harry ‘fell into the water one day at the Navy Yard, and was crushed to death between the hull of the Freighter John H. Derrenbacher, and the pier. A Norwegian scaler, half-drunk on his scaffold in the steam sun-light, heard his cries and looked down to see him, thrashing in the oily water, just as the ship was heaved up on a swell and rode into the pilings.’ Sorrentino recreates this scenario with a new subject but with much of the same effects, this allows the appreciation of meaning being derived from the sensations that this scene invokes, with the helplessness of the Norwegian scaler in such a brutal experience where he witness’ ‘[Fat Harry] more or less explode into a red surge of blood.’ These emotions thereby transcend their subjects and are captured into a moment to be experienced for the sensation rather than their context and subject. This is followed by the narrators commentary which notes that ‘the hull of ships of the considerable tonnage of the freighter, John H. Derrenbacher, are customarily repaired, scaled, and painted in dry dock; so that the death of Fat Harry, in the manner here described is highly improbable.’ Sorrentino uses the narrator to contradict the validity of this story to draw away from the taking meaning from the details, this is just as he did with the little boy, by abstracting the
Newland and Countess Olenska's love is in strong contrast with the emotional vacuity of their peers, and it is this very contrast upon which the pathos of their story hinges. The lovers relish the moments they manage to steal with one another, absconding to a remote log cabin or savoring a clandestine carriage ride. The film is permeated by this sort of foreplay, teasing the viewer from beginning to end with auspicious meetings between the two lovers. Each time, however, the promising moments are snuffed by the pressures of New York high-society. Conjugal constraints force Newland and Countess Olenska to repress their longings, and in the drudgery of everyday ...
In 'Greasy Lake,' the dualism of the characters' nature is ever-present. They are self-proclaimed bad guys who 'cultivated decadence like a taste' (79). As the story progresses, however, it is revealed that just the opposite is true. While they are essentially caricatures of themselves, it is this dynamic that drives the story. Their tough exterior is just that, an exterior veneer that permeates their actions as 'dangerous characters.' The narrator is somewhat detached from the younger self of his story. It is an ironic detachment'a parody of his moral ignorance. He recalls the 'bad? antics of his youth: driving their 'parents' whining station wagons,' but doing so as bad as humanly possible, of course. He mocks both himself and his friends in his retrospection of their experience in Greasy Lake, the consummate locale of 'bad.' To the boys, the lake serves as a kind of haven for bad characters such as themselves. Truly, however, the lake is an extension of the dynamic between who the boys are and who they parade around as. It is here where the previous and false understanding about their world is shattered, and they are thrust into a moralistic reformation. Ultimately, the dichotomous nature of the protagonist is resolved by his visit to the lake, and perhaps, the lake itself.
In the game of life man is given the options to bluff, raise, or fold. He is dealt a hand created by the consequences of his choices or by outside forces beyond his control. It is a never ending cycle: choices made create more choices. Using diverse, complex characters simmering with passion and often a contradiction within themselves, Tennessee Williams examines the link of past and present created by man's choices in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
An unlikely scene in Mrs. Forrester's Victorian world? The worlds about which Willa Cather and Laura Esquivel write hardly seen congruous. Written in different eras, in different styles, and in different cultures, Cather's A Lost Lady and Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate appear, at first glance, to have little in common. Cather's Victorian realism seems totally incompatible with Esquivel's surrealistic imagery, and yet, if we look closely, we can find common threads woven between the two works. Although differences are obvious, subtle similarities exist in setting, conflict, and central characters.
In D.H. Lawerence's short story, “The Rocking Horse Winner”, and Grahm Greene's “The Destructors, there are many truths to consider. Although these two stories are considerably different, the message is the same. Whether in a life-like story, such as “The Destructors”, or a fantacy, like “The Rocking Horse Winner”, the seeds of materialism are planted and nourished in lives of the characters. The aspects of materialism in these two stories develop desired conclusions by its characters. In order to understand the similar message of Greene short story “The Destructors” and Lawerence's “The Rocking Horse Winner”, one must scrutinize the various aspects of each story.
Lust makes people do crazy things. John Updike’s short story “A&P” provides a perfect example of how lust made a boy quit his job. In this short story, a boy, named Sammy, catches a glimpse of three under-dressed, attractive girls as they enter his workplace. The manager asks the three girls to leave. As a result, Sammy is outraged by the mistreatment of the girls and quits his job in protest. Sammy’s stand against the mistreatment of the girls makes him feel like a hero. Updike’s use of descriptive words and dramatic irony in “A&P” leads the reader to believe that Sammy’s heroic acts were not actions with rebellious intentions, but actions due to his lust for the three under-dressed girls.
...ror of Pecola’s first sexual experience: her father rapes her), and a difficult marriage situation (caused by his own drunkenness). The “bads” certainly outweigh the “goods” in his situation. Thus, the reader ought not to feel sympathy for Cholly. But, Morrison presents information about Cholly in such a way that mandates sympathy from her reader. This depiction of Cholly as a man of freedom and the victim of awful happenings is wrong because it evokes sympathy for a man who does not deserve it. He deserves the reader’s hate, but Morrison prevents Cholly covered with a blanket of undeserved, inescapable sympathy. Morrison creates undeserved sympathy from the reader using language and her depiction of Cholly acting within the bounds of his character. This ultimately generates a reader who becomes soft on crime and led by emotions manipulated by the authority of text.
In the short story “An Adventure in Paris” by Guy De Maupassant an unnamed woman seeks for adventure, love, and excitement. An unnamed narrator starts to explain the inner nature and curiosity of a woman. The story transitions to the point of view of an unnamed lawyer’s wife which allows us to see her deepest desire to travel to Paris and be part of the lavishing life she has seen in the magazines. To escape her regular routine she makes a plan to go to Paris; however, her family members are only middle class and cannot help her fulfill her desire to live the life of a celebrity, fame, and fashion. Just when her trip seems to be monotonous she comes across the chance to live the life of an extravagant person. This chance happens when she meets Jean Varin, a wealthy author, in a store wanting to purchase a Japanese figurine. When Varin decides that the figurine is too expensive the lawyer’s wife steps up to buy the figurine which causes Varin to notice her. She flirtatiously invites herself into Varin’s daily activities which intrigue Varin. As the day closes she invites herself to Varin’s house and has an affair with Varin; however, she doesn’t feel she is satisfied because of his many needs. She anxiously waits till morning to come so that she can leave which only confuses Varin. When Varin asks her why she is leaving after all they have been through she states that she wanted to know what depravity felt like; however, it was not what she expected. The central idea of the story is about a woman’s psychological desire for romance, adventure, and an opulent lifestyle that leads to curiosity and the immoral act of adultery.
Perhaps an even stronger testament to the deepness of cinema is Darren Aronofsky’s stark, somber Requiem for a Dream. Centering on the drug-induced debasement of four individuals searching for the abstract concept known as happiness, Requiem for a Dream brims with verisimilitude and intensity. The picture’s harrowing depiction of the characters’ precipitous fall into the abyss has, in turn, fascinated and appalled, yet its frank, uncompromising approach leaves an indelible imprint in the minds of young and old alike.
Many of the short stories within the collection The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, can be compared and contrasted in regards to elements including theme, characters, and technique. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the character Mary Anne Bell appears to be apparently similar to the character Martha from “The Things They Carried,” in that both are young women who have relations with a soldier in the war. Though upon further analysis of Mary Anne, it appears she is far from alike to Martha. Rather, an unexpected parallel can be drawn between the characters Mary Anne and Elroy Berdahl, from “On the Rainy River,” in that both appear to be epitomes of masculinity. The peculiar connection between these characters developed by Tim O’Brien shines a light on the ambiguity of conventional gender roles of men and women.
“Si vous aimez l’amour, vous aimerez le Surrealisme!,” She screams as he slams the door (Mundy 4). His eyes are like nails in the rain. He steps onto the street— the cobbled street. She presses her lips to the window— the waiting window. As he runs away his militant frame, once emboldened in comparison to her tiny fragility, sinks into a comforting smallness. He is gone. How small he looks now that he has not listened to her. How logical he seems. She is glad that he is no longer a man, but the memory of an umbrella.
Reading is an experience of art; without readers’ interaction, the meaning of any literary work is insufficient. “[Norman] Holland believes that we react to literary texts with the same psychological responses we bring to our daily life....That is, in various ways we unconsciously recreate in the text the world that exists in our mind.” (Tyson, 182) By telling a story that centers on the conflicts between two wealth young females whose personalities are distinctly different in the jazz age, Fitzgerald leads us on a journey of physical, and especially psychological transition of the protagonists through an omniscient narration. For female individuals, a tale emphasis on the youth,
Thus, Werther[3] suggests that we have to choose between the subcapitalist paradigm of reality and the textual paradigm of narrative. If postmodern materialism holds, the works of Madonna are reminiscent of Joyce.
In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself.
Janwillem Van De Wetering says, “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” Guy De Maupassant’s “The Necklace” tells of Mrs. Mathilde Loisel’s longings for the finer things in life. Her desires are so intense she risks her husband’s affections, the friendship of an old chum, and even her mediocre lifestyle to pursue these cravings. One small decision based on an ill-placed desire causes a slow drawn out death of the spirit, body and relationships.