Odd Couple
Themes and characters are most often the key factors that
influence a writer's work. Most of the time the author has no control
over this influence. This is clearly shown in Neil Simon's play, The
Odd Couple. Not only is Simon's own life depicted in his play, but
also the lives of those close to him, can be parallel to his work. Neil
Simon's life is depicted in his characters and themes of his play, The
Odd Couple.
Marvin Neil Simon was born in the Bronx on July 4, 1927. His
father, Irving, was a salesman in Manhattan's garment district; his
mother Mamie worked in Gimbel's department store. The family moved to
Washington Heights, in northern Manhattan, when Simon was young.
Irving was an errant husband who occasionally abandoned the family
altogether, leaving Mamie, a frustrated and bitter women, alone to deal
with Neil and his older brother Danny. Eventually, the parents were
divorced, and Neil went to live with relatives in Queens. From an
early age, he exhibited a quick wit and an active imagination. He
loved films and was often asked to leave the theater for laughing to
loud. In high school, Simon was sometimes ostracized as a Jew, an
experience that would later inform his work. Meanwhile, he and his
brother began collaborating on comedy material that they sold to
stand-up comics and radio announcers. Simon graduated from DeWitt
Clinton High School in 1944 at the age of sixteen(Magill2216).
He entered New York University under the US Army Airforce
Reserve Program. Throughout his military career, he wrote for
many military newspapers. Discharged in 1946, Simon took a job in the
mail room at Warner Brothers in New York, where Danny worked in the
publicity department. The brothers were soon hired to write for
Goodman Ace of CBS, and over the next decade they provided material for
many popular comedians. During the summers of 1952 and 1953, they
wrote sketches for a professional acting company at Camp Tamiment, in
Pennsylvania.
At Camp Tamiment, Simon fell in love with a young actress named Joan
Baim, and the couple was married on September 30, 1953. Five years
later, Joan gave birth to a daughter, Ellen; a second daughter, Nancy,
was born in 1963(Magill2261).
In 1956, when Danny Simon moved to California to be a
television director, Neil stayed in New York and wrote for many
popular television shows. He also adapted broadway plays for
television. By the later 1950's, however, he wanted more independence
The last example is concerning his incredible athletic ability. Finny and Gene are in the pool one day, and they read the plaque that holds the swimming record times. Finny looks at one and decides that he can beat that time record. He tries, and he beats the record. Gene wants him to do it on front of an official judge. Finny Refuses and says "No, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know"(35). This tells you that he lives life to it’s fullest, since he is just doing this to see if he can. Most people wouldn’t even think about trying to see if they could break the record, they would be too lazy to go find a stop watch anyway.
One thing that is unfortunate about departing this life is the lost vivacity that a person works to expand since the day they were born.
he suffered through-out his life, ie. the war, the holocaust, his wife's suicide, and his heart disease.
To begin, the first instance of redemption is found and portrayed through irony. As Amir's mother died giving birth to him, he has always felt guilty. Leading up to the annual kite-fighting tournament, Amir feels as if winning will redeem her death, and solidify his relationship with Baba. When he comes upon Hassan who is cornered by Assef, Amir feels as if his rape might be justified: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Or was it a fair price?” (Hosseini, 82) If Amir gains the kite, he wins Baba's heart. Ironically, the sacrifice of Hassan is the catalyst to Amir's need for redemption. Instead of redeemi...
of his father and his father before him. He came to a certain point in his life where one
[Bessian and Diana cut their honeymoon short and decide to leave the High Plateau. They pack their things, check out of the hotel, and load their possessions in the coach and leave.]
The "subprime crises" was one of the most significant financial events since the Great Depression and definitely left a mark upon the country as we remain upon a steady path towards recovering fully. The financial crisis of 2008, became a defining moment within the infrastructure of the US financial system and its need for restructuring. One of the main moments that alerted the global economy of our declining state was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on Sunday, September 14, 2008 and after this the economy began spreading as companies and individuals were struggling to find a way around this crisis. (Murphy, 2008) The US banking sector was first hit with a crisis amongst liquidity and declining world stock markets as well. The subprime mortgage crisis was characterized by a decrease within the housing market due to excessive individuals and corporate debt along with risky lending and borrowing practices. Over time, the market apparently began displaying more weaknesses as the global financial system was being affected. With this being said, this brings into question about who is actually to assume blame for this financial fiasco. It is extremely hard to just assign blame to one individual party as there were many different factors at work here. This paper will analyze how the stakeholders created a financial disaster and did nothing to prevent it as the credit rating agencies created an amount of turmoil due to their unethical decisions and costly mistakes.
There are five things that Richard Rohr told people about the process of our life and I have the some perspective with him on life process.
Compared to other countries, France’s economy is the fourth largest in the world. France is a very industrialized nation, yet it has kept some of the cultural characteristics that contribute to its old-world charm. The economy is “exceptionally diversified” (“Economic Structure”, 1). It produces everything from aircrafts to pharmaceuticals.
'act God' as some people call it, and take away one life in order to
Neil was unable to seize control of his life and saw the only option as suicide. Neil was unable to meet the expectations his father set, causing an inferiority complex to form. The id, ego, and superego are all shown in Neil, but in the end, the impulsive actions of the id controlled his life. Neil’s suicide allowed him to gain control of his life for the first time. Neil saw suicide as the only way for him to, “Carpe diem” (Dead Poets Society). Individualism is an imperative quality, but potentially calamitous when one is desperate to become
and both poets have had to deal with this in there own life, so they
and by the end of the story the couple find themselves on the brink of
Warwick J. McKibbin, and Andrew Stoeckel. “The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences.” Lowy Institute for International Policy 2.09 (2009): 1. PDF file.
ethics were daily events in his life. At home, he tried to raise his children