Neverwhere as an Intrusive Fantasy In the novel Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, points could be made that it could fall into the category many of the fantasy types described by Farah Mendlesohn in Rhetorics of Fantasy. However, after reading more and more of Gaiman’s novel, my argument is that Neverwhere is most like an intrusion fantasy. Neverwhere has the element of bringing chaos into the normal world from London below into London above, and in turn into Richard’s life, therefore following the main baseline of an intrusive fantasy. First, it is important to understand the basis of an intrusive fantasy as outlined by Mendlesohn. In short, and the most straightforward explanation, Mendlesohn tells us that “in intrusion fantasy the fantastic is the bringer of chaos” (Mendlesohn 21). Specifically in Neverwhere, Door is the bringer of chaos in Richard’s left. Before Door, he had a After that first contact with Door, Richard’s life becomes progressively more chaotic from the visit from Croup and Vandemar to completely becoming enveloped in London Below. It is also important to note that intrusion fantasy does not always mean that it is unwelcome and unpleasant, but rather that it brings a sense of abnormality to a rather normal world, and that is exactly how London Below is. Although London Below is extremely different and fantastic, it is not all evil in the large scope of things. Additionally, Mendlesohn mentions that “those set apart from the protagonist may not be able to perceive the fantastic even as they experience its effects” (Mendlesohn 23). We can see this the most obviously when Richard and Door go to the British Museum to find the Angel Islington. The people in Jessica’s party do not recognize them until they cause a scene, again bringing chaos, and immediately after the Angel Islington is found and Richard and Door
Despite the adversity that plagued the children of South Boston throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Southie native Michael Patrick MacDonald often remarked that he grew up in “the best place in the world,” suggesting that while adversity can be crippling, it does not guarantee a bad life. Throughout his childhood, MacDonald and his family suffered from extreme poverty, experienced the effects of drugs on the family structure, and felt the poor educational effects in a struggling neighborhood. Through his memoir, All Souls, readers gain an in-depth perspective of Michael Patrick MacDonald’s life, especially his childhood. Because readers are able to see MacDonald as both a child and an adult, it is possible to see how the circumstances of his childhood
From the early history, women were inferior to and dominated by men. However, the problem of female sexual degradation of the male society is still existent even in the 21st century’s world which is characterized by the social equality and democracy. In a self-contained Issue, “Callioppe” (The Sandman, #17), Neil Gaiman criticizes the male driven economy which engages in female social and sexual abjection through depiction of rape. Utilizing the narrative and visual techniques, Gaiman draws the reader to the problem of sexual violence toward women.
Literary Analysis Anthem and Station Eleven are both dystopian novels. Both books relate to the citizen having little to no freedom with the government that is controlling them. Anthem was written by Ayn Rand, she wrote about how the government in this area controls what each person is destined to be whether you like it or not. Whereas in Station Eleven the world has practically ended due to a deadly flu virus and, somehow, ended up with a man as many know as the Prophet attempting to rule the word. Both dystopian novels have a very unfair dictatorship type government.
Pictured on the back cover of the comic book "Ghost World," by Daniel Clowes, are the two main characters of the book in full color. This strikingly significant image, surely shrugged off by most Clowes' readers, represents worlds of diversity within the frames of the book. Sporting pink spandex pants underneath her goldfinch yellow skirt and a blue t-shirt to match perfectly, Enid seems to live her life outside the bubble. She's a very dynamic girl, especially interested in her surroundings and people around her. On the other hand, Becky is dressed like a "typical" girl, with a long black skirt and a white blouse, thus representing her conforming presence in the world. Becky is much more passive than Enid, going with the flow of things just living life. The contrasting personalities of Enid and Becky come ironically, being best friends. However, it brings out their defining qualities in the comic book while quietly calling attention to the values of life, what is real and what is not.
How would you feel if you and your family had to be placed in a internal camp from your home? Well, in this memoir, The Invisible Thread, Yoshiko Uschida explains her struggle of going through that situation. Yoshiko Uschida creates a sense of bewilderment throughout the memoir to explain her displacement from the United States to an internal camp.
The loss of a family member can be very painful and it’s hard to overcome. On the one hand it’s best to overcome the pain and forget the loss. On the other hand we try our best to cherish their memory. Sometime the loss of a beloved one can be so painful that we might even see and talk to them even though they aren’t there. We may even convince ourselves that they are still alive. This is the main theme in Bernie Mcgill’s short story “No Angle” from 2011.
Richard undergoes a transition in mindset and character throughout chapters 3-4, shown when he describes himself as “...grown taller and older..” (103). This grown up mindset is displayed in page 109, when Richard narrates, “Once, in a battle with a gang of white boys, I was struck behind the ear with a piece of broken bottle… Her [Richard’s mother] words did not sink in, for they conflicted with the code of the streets. I promised my mother that I would not fight, but I knew that if I kept my word I would lose my standing in the gang, and the gang’s life was my life.” This is unalike from the young Richard in chapters 1 and 2, because young Richard was scared of fighting in the streets when he was a little boy. This shows the impact of environment, because as Richard is growing up in a black neighborhood that encourages fights, gangs, profanity, etc., he is growing accustomed to the gangster life. Moreover, his mother encouraged Richard to fight in the beginning chapters, but is now telling him to stop. This displays the change of character of both Richard and his mother, because his fighting habits are becoming excessive to the point that he is getting hurt.
Under the Net starts with Jake-A writer, the protagonist, and the narrator of the novel, and Finn, his friend, being thrown out of the apartment that they have been living there for free for almost two years by their friend Madge, who is concerned that her new, rich lover would not like her having two males living with her. In response to that, Jake tries to find shelter by asking other friends. Throughout the story, Jake goes through a different series of events that leads him to change his view of life and himself. A theme throughout the novel is the idea of reflection. Murdoch uses first person narrative view, metaphor, and reflection and relationships with other characters to understand the reality if life.
When an author allows a character to accomplish greatness, he grants his the concept of agency. The authors Jeffrey Nealon and Susan Giroux in their work The Theory Toolbox, explain and define what agency means in the humanities, arts and social sciences. Their description and definition of agency is seen in such works like “Drown” by Junto Diaz and “Women Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros. In this paper using The Theory Toolbox and The Norton Anthology of American Literature the concept of agency, shall be broken down especially in the different works of literature.
While drawing a cathedral together, the husband’s wife wakes up with a glare and asks her husband, “What are you doing? Tell me, I want to know” (42). By electing to keep his eyes closed it is revealed that the husband is seeing things in a more meaningful perspective way. Further analysis reveals when Robert wants the husband to look at the drawing, “My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. It’s really something” (42). The husband now feels a connection nothing through Robert’s hand, more than just a blind
In the short story, “Hills like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, is based on determination to abort a child. Hemingway introduced the readers to Jig a naïve girl, who lacks self-confidence and an American man who is self-indulgence. Jig and her partner made an adult decision to conceive a child, but are not capable of keeping the unborn infant. Jig is in a position of contemplation, where she has to decide her own seed over infatuated love because she does not want her decision to affect their relationship. The man she has unconditionally love for does not condone to her pregnancy. The American man specifies the abortion as a “simple operation”. He tries to persuade Jig into the operation, but does not realize life will not remain the same after the surgery is complete. Hemingway helps readers visualize the situation of abortion by comparing Jig pregnancy to the scenery and fictitious objects.
Imagine feeling guilty for making it out alive on a journey. In the nonfiction novel, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, he documents his journey to the summits of Mount Everest and ultimately accuses himself for holding acquisitiveness responsibility for the disaster on the mountain. After realizing only one-fourth of the people that climbed to the summits on May 10, 1996, made it down back to base camp alive, Krakauer theorizes about why that was so. He attributes most of the reason for the disaster to the erratic weather along with hubris, he wanted for the thought of leading a group to the mountain. Despite those reasons, there is no ultimate reason for the deaths documented in the book, but bottom line the climbers that died didn’t thoroughly comprehend the danger they were going to encounter as a consequence that contributes to the disaster.
In The Eternal Now, Paul Tillich intent is to answer a variety of questions that are concomitant with Ontology and Theology. It is written in a direct style that is free from the characteristic rhetorical frills of many religious works. Make no mistake Tillich is a sincerely religious man who frames his philosophical thinking in the weltanschauung of Christianity. Nonetheless, in Tillich’s mode of existentialist manifestation, ideation of "being" saturates the mundane milieu of religion.
In the book “Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer, Jon describes his experience summiting and descending the one and only Mt. Everest. The tallest mountain in the whole world.During his journey he endured many life threatening events such as almost blacking out, getting caught in a storm, and many others. However he was one of the lucky ones, because out of that whole crew, 8 people died. That is the most recorded in one expedition ever.I believe there are two things that contributed to the deaths in this book. The greed of Nepal primarily is a factor, and also the lack of knowledge the people have that seek this rush of climbing Mount Everest. It is not anyone's fault in particular but there is topics to be blamed. A lack of knowledge can mean life or death in many various scenarios.
Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples” is far from the modern day fairy tale. It is a dark and twisted version of the classic tale, Snow White. His retelling is intriguing and unexpected, coming from the point of view of the stepmother rather than Snow White. By doing this, Gaiman changes the entire meaning of the story by switching perspectives and motivations of the characters. This sinister tale has more purpose than to frighten its readers, but to convey a deeper, hidden message. His message in “Snow, Glass, Apples” is that villains may not always be villains, but rather victims.