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Now and then character analysis
Now and then character analysis
Secondary character analysis essay
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In the novel Tunes for Bears to Dance, described as cruel and emotionless man, Mr. Hairston takes position of antagonist in the novel. He orders Henry to destroy old man’s handmade village, luring him with rewards while threatening him with consequences for declining the offer. When Henry refuses to accept the reward, Mr. Hairston begs Henry to take them. The quote “ If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each man’s life a sorrow and a suffering enough to disarm all hostility” from Henry Wadsworth states that behind one’s behavior, corresponding experiences exists that contributes to the behavior. To Doris, Henry infers Mr. Hairston as a weak person. The quote applies to Mr. Hairston, by explaining that his grumpy
people to repress and fear their emotions. Turner finds primal emotions to be necessary to our
“Only Phineas never was afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone. Other people experienced this fearful shock somewhere, this sighting of the enemy, and so began an obsessive labor of defense, began to parry the menace they saw facing them by developing a particular frame of mind.”(Knowles 204) John Knowles, the author of A Separate Peace states this quote to explore how some people develop defense mechanisms in order to protect themselves from any harm they may endure. Gene, the novel’s protagonist feels as though his best friend Phineas is somehow out to get him. However, Finny’s perception of his friend was utterly different from Gene’s perspective. In fact, Finny acts as a foil for Gene throughout the story, carrying a completely different outlook on things. Gene’s savage nature allows him to identify the evil within people when Finny simply acknowledges the positive traits in his friends, disregarding the concept of wickedness as a whole. Through Gene and Finny’s friendship, John Knowles illustrates the significance of how one has the ability to perceive others.
In the year 1625, Francis Bacon, a famous essayist and poet wrote about the influences of fear on everyday life. He stated, “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other” (Essays Dedication of Death). Clearly, external surroundings affect perceptions of fear as well as human nature in general. Although C.S. Lewis published the novel, Out of the Silent Planet, over three centuries after Bacon wrote his theory on fear, Lewis similarly portrayed external surrounding to manipulate perceptions of fear. From the first chapter of the novel, Lewis revealed fear to be a weakness that leads to ignorance. It was this ignorance that apparently fueled the cycle of corruption and immorality on “The Silent Planet.” Using the character Ransom to reveal the effect of memory and morality on fear, C.S. Lewis demonstrates that fear is a quality of the “bent” race (humans), and only by eliminating fear in our lives can the human race become hnau.
Instead the environment we are raised in will change who we are and how we act. In the short story “The Half-Husky” by Margaret Laurence, Harvey is a prime example of this - as a child, he was very innocent and lacked a suitable understanding of the environment he was in, but as he grew up his aunt began to complain about how much of a nuisance he was in her life (complaining about no one wanting to date her because she already had a child). Growing up knowing that you are not wanted must be extremely difficult, because your life may seem without a purpose. Harvey - being raised by an aunt who does not want him - began to not want anything to do with other people. He began to model what his aunt did to him to other people, eventually reaching Nanuk and Vanessa. Nanuk is a dog, but not much different from Harvey as a pup Nanuk was very innocent, but once Harvey started torturing Nanuk by poking him with a stick, getting pepper in his eyes, and even setting him on fire! Nanuk became very cautious and aggressive around other people, the environment he was originally raised in with Vanessa was one with a lot of care, but once he was introduced to Harvey he went from extremely innocent to overly aggressive. Humans are not inherently good or evil, but are susceptible to change through their experiences in their
Human nature is a conglomerate perception which is the dominant liable expressed in the short story of “A Tell-Tale Heart”. Directly related, Edgar Allan Poe displays the ramifications of guilt and how it can consume oneself, as well as disclosing the nature of human defense mechanisms, all the while continuing on with displaying the labyrinth of passion and fears of humans which make a blind appearance throughout the story. A guilty conscience of one’s self is a pertinent facet of human nature that Edgar Allan Poe continually stresses throughout the story. The emotion that causes a person to choose right from wrong, good over bad is guilt, which consequently is one of the most ethically moral and methodically powerful emotion known to human nature. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe displays the narrator to be rather complacent and pompous, however, the narrator establishes what one could define as apprehension and remorse after committing murder of an innocent man. It is to believe that the narrator will never confess but as his heightened senses blur the lines between real and ...
The cruel nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Lee utilized a variety of symbols and themes that correlated with each other and thus had the ability to create questions in the minds of the readers. Are humans calculatedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? The impiety of a few can create a movement, imprison the innocent or reveal the sincerity of others.
This quote discusses one of my major beliefs which is the fact that everyone has to deal with both external conflict and internal conflict. Although this quote is talking about war, it symbolizes a greater meaning of the struggles of life. Xavier is struggling with the aspect of the war that requires him to kill other men in order to survive. He is dealing with the guilt that follows murder, but he also recognizes it is necessary. In the real world, every person struggles with internal doubts, feelings of sadness, and worry. These are usually a result of external conflict and events that are occurring in a person’s life. I believe that everyone is struggling, to a certain degree, with both internal and external conflicts. These conflicts work together, if a person struggles internally, they will have more external conflicts, and vice versa. The less internal and external conflict that a person has, the more peaceful and joyful their life will be. I chose this quote because the idea of suffering internally due to external conflicts is something that I can relate to on a very personal level. When I first read
...not only something as drastic as a war that may cause one to re-examine his outlook on himself and his life. There are many events in life that will prompt one to question his sense of self. The result may be a personal revelation, or the opposite. In any case, it is through these events that a man is shaped and discovered. These changes are evident not only through the world that created the man, but also through the man who experiences the world.
John Locke is a philosopher who discovered many theories. His philosophy states, “humans begin as blank and gradually acquire knowledge through experience” (Locke). This means that it is the experiences that determine who you are. They can determine if someone is a good person or a bad person. Positive experiences can make someone a good person; bad experiences determine if someone is a bad person, and the same can be said for the monster in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein.
Defining a person is not as easy as looking through a dictionary. Inferring, thinking, and a thoughtful mind are all required in illustrating the true person. The shaping of one’s identity is all based on events that happen to a person. Many sources of literature prove that the major aspect in shaping one’s identity is memories. In literature, they include the fundamentals of memories in their morals. The importance of memories is significantly shown in The Outsiders when Johnny acts differently because of his abusive childhood; in S.E. Hinton’s Letter, when she talks about how her wish of becoming a writer became her future and her true identity; and Julian Baggini’s lecture, where he directly said that memories shape who “you” are. Johnny’s abusive past and S.E.’s longing for a life away from social struggles all shaped who they later became. The uniqueness of a person’s personality is determined mainly on one’s memories.
One of the biggest factors in the cultivation of an individual’s personality is their past. The past is the road that delivered the individual to where they are today and will affect where they are going in the future. Mine shaped the characteristics that define me and made me the person that I am today.
We are born clean, with the best of the feelings "love," watching with a look of illusion, eventful life. Over time the society, culture and our own experiences pollute our life, influencing the way we think. In the short story “Going to Meet the Man” by James Baldwin, tells the story of Jesses an impotent white sheriff, whose one night his arousal awakened when he remembered the day his father took him to watch the torture and murder of a black man, at the age of eight. “Going to Meet the Man” demonstrates how humans are not born racist and evil, but it behavior and thought develops after significant childhood events.
“To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal”-William James. Waldo Emerson spoke of how the sun shines and we feel its warmth but never think to wonder why, and surprisingly when it comes to evil, pain, hunger, even unusual people, we grow more than fascinated, if not infatuated with the subject. Sometimes, we find ourselves acting as disturbed people do. Why do we do this? It could possibly be that we, too, feel this way to a lesser extent. We may have felt, through family and friends, pain that could have brought some of us to a psychological disorder like: feeling unworthy
Her assumption led to her unbecoming. She assumed rather than asked, she did not make the effort to truly get to know her customer and now she regretted it, ruining her chances at love and marriage. It’s understandable how lonely she was and her desperation to get married at her age. She was going through a mid-life crisis due to her circumstances and she rushed to get a companion in life. Her desperation clouded her reasoning and she ruined and hurt the person she wanted to be with. She did not hurt herself but she hurt other people because of her assumptions due to her need for love and affection. It’s sad yet she should have known better than just assume about other people. Now she’s given up on love and all hope of finding it. O. Henry wanted to convey what it was like to be middle-aged and single. You’d compare yourself to others’ lives and wonder why they got the better end of the stick and why you, with all that you can offer, be lonely and unwanted. In Miss Martha’s case, she knew she wasn’t getting any younger and she was becoming desperate for love and companionship, and this desperation, has clouded her rightful reasoning and led herself to assume things about the person she likes but she’s not aware of it. If she truly did like him, she should have made an effort to get to know him and think rationally about what she does around him. Love should not be rushed or deceitful. Although she did not lie to him, she lied to herself and that makes it all the more,
People all around the world go through miscellaneous experiences in their lives. Every situation can affect a person in any type of way. The resulting effect does not always need be dissatisfactory; sometimes is a combination or both good and bad. Many aspects in my life have influenced my personality and how I live my life. Getting bullied in middle school has affected my life intensely, however managed to make me stand for myself, a stronger person, and not scared of what anyone says about me.