Human Maturity in The Human Comedy by William Saroyan William Saroyan's The Human Comedy, deals with ravages of life. Due to these trials, Homer is forced to mature. How he matures is a result of facing the challenges. Two very import themes that help homer mature are family and death. Homer represents the men of the house because he works and earns money for the family. For example, he goes to school until three o'clock, then goes to work until midnight. Going to school and working is very hard but it needs to be done for the family to survive. In addition, Homer needs to be both a father and a big brother for Ulysses. Homer loves and cares for Ulysses, and he teaches Ulysses about life, and physical appearance. Finally, Homer said, 'Any work that has to be done around here, men can do. Girls belong in homes, taking care of men.'; (Pg. 157) Homer is rewarded for being the man of the house by getting love and shelter from his family. Love is needed from the family to keep Homer supporting the family. Homer becomes mature by working, but looses his one and only childhood. Death is a very important theme, because delivering death messages is what made Homer mature. For example, Homer told his mother 'All of a sudden I feel different—not like I ever felt before.'; (Pg. 33) Delivering telegram message changed everything for Homer because he was no longer a child. Furthermore, delivering death telegrams made Homer sick. At the age of fourteen, when Homer had to deliver death messages, this made him realize that one day he is going to die himself. At the end when Homer realizes his brother's death, Homer said, 'What's a man supposed to do? I don't know who to hate. I don't know what to do.'; (Pg. 186) This showed being a teenager moreover a man, did not solve the problem about death.
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
Throughout Homer’s work, The Odyssey, the roles of both men and women are extremely prevalent. The women are expected to perform the duties of the homemaker and family caretaker while the men are sent out to fight and defend their pride and honor, both very important facets of Greek society. Though the women may appear as insignificant to readers at first, their true power over the men in the work cannot be ignored.
Holding Odysseus as the model of the homo religiosus who is well trained the rituals and ways of the gods, Homer attempts to show how the history of such a man's life can be riddled with suffering. Also, no matter whether the suffering is inflicted by fate, the will of the gods, other people, or man's own desires, the god's themselves have divined a system that will work to alleviate the intolerable condition of man.
deceitful and Homer is a sexist who holds a double standard of morality for men
First of all, in The Simpsons, the scene where we get into the actual plot of the story opens with Marge and Lisa walking into a department store that sells dolls. The gender stereotype that girls are only interested in playing with dolls is reinforced here as a huge selection of Malibu Stacy dolls is on display with a throng of screeching, bloodthirsty girls tearing the store apart. Lisa says, “I’m warning you mom, I might get a little crazy.” and immediately knocks down a girl and snatches another in a choke-hold to be the first in line for the new Malibu Stacy doll. In the very next scene we have the whole family in the car with Homer driving. He is baking a cupcake with an easy-bake-oven that he bought from the mall. Marge advises him that he should not be doing that. The stereotype here is that men are more impulsive as demonstrated by Homer and his baking while driving without any concern of his or his family’s safety; and that women like to play it safe and think before acting as demonstrated by Marge. Another noteworthy observation is the fact that Homer completes his gender stereotype as the bread-winner of the family. He works at the Nuclear power plant while Marge plays the role of the proud homemaker who is rarely seen outside the home and who has little friends. Homer on the other hand, is not confined to his domestic role and his frequently shown at Moe’s Tavern with his friends, at work, or doing something that is stupid and dangerous. This enforces the stereotype that women have few friends and stay close to domestic life whereas men have lots of friends, are more independent, and bring home the bacon. Moreover, Bart and Lisa are in accordance with their gender stereotypes as well. For instance, in the backseat, Ba...
The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether it's on television or newspaper, you'll probably hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death affects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.
In the era of Homer, women played a very specific role in society, and even in literature. Women of this time were basically put in a box, and expected to never step out of line. If they did go against the arbitration of men, then they were faced with serious consequences. However, female characters play a huge role in both aiding, and delaying Odysseus’s journey home. I will proceed to analyze, and interpret the actions and intentions of every major female character in The Odyssey.
Homer endorsed the dominating belief of his time concerning women by treating the female characters unequally and differently compared to the male characters in The Odyssey
Homer. “The Odyssey”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 475. Print.
In Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, the main theme is the reunification of the family, as Odysseus struggles to return home and rejoin his wife and son. Throughout the Odyssey, we are shown examples of families: good ones that prosper and bad ones that do not. As Telemakhos struggles to become a man and Odysseus struggles homeward, the concept of healthy family life is stressed. At the end, when all conflicts are resolved and Odysseus is reunited with wife and son, the lesson that a united family can overcome any obstacles is shown and is one that today's families should heed.
The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece. The role that the housemaids play in The Odyssey is that of servitude.
Homer was a very influential and significant part of the Greek civilization. The Greeks had been passing down stories, by word, of the Golden Age and of the great battles of the Greeks for many years. Homer ...
Homer brings the idea of death into his work through his word choice, and focusing on what the characters are escaping instead of what they are achieving. Oftentimes
There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives. These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are emotional necessities to ultimately keep us happy. No piece of literature these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer. Throughout the course of this book there is one major emotional theme: love.
Women found in this book also had to have cunning and strength of character to not be pushed around like a sex slave and become an object more than a human being. They displayed as much cunning as Odysseus throughout The Odyssey. They have to rely on the power of cunning over strength because they are weaker than the men as it has been for centuries. Homer's majority of minor characters it seems like are women. He is using all these minor characters to reinforce the theme...