Searching for the Perfect World in Literature
Literature often explores the questions raised in life: Who are we? What does it mean to die? What kind of world do we live in? Throughout this course, there seems to have been an underlying theme in most of the works that have been read, concerning human misery. It seems that most of those who experience tremendous suffering, actually allow it to happen to themselves. If one chooses to look at the losses in life, one may never find true happiness, but if one chooses to perceive those losses as an opportunity for growth, one may find the "perfect world" right here.
In Poe’s, "The Raven," this idea is supported. As the poem demonstrates, one may torture himself into a life of melancholy and madness if one focuses on the losses in life. The thoughts of Lenore would not go away for him. By focusing on what he did not have, rather than what he did, he went mad. The raven answers his self-destroying questions until ultimately it becomes a permanent fixture in the room -- a symbol of the narrator's self-inflicted mental and spiritual collapse. Rather than to accept the loss and move on, he focused on what did not have and would nevar have. Therefore, he did not find the perfect world, but rather a hell on Earth.
Perhaps people are faced with these experiences as tests. Our own reaction to it determines whether we pass or fail. Do we appreciate what we do have and learn from the experience or do we feel sorry for ourselves and let it drag us down?
Granny Weatherall is an example of someone who let it drag her down. For 60 years she had pined over the loss of George and it made her miserable. She never stopped to look and see what was already there in her life. John was not a bad husband, but she did not even notice because she was still focusing on the loss of being jilted by George. She overlooked any good things In her life because of this misery. Something that happened 60 years ago haunted her for every day of her miserable life (because she allowed it to), until it eventually killed her.
The actor Keanu Reeves once commented, “Grief changes shape, but it never ends.” Perhaps, nowhere else is this idea of never-ending grief more prevalent than in dark romanticist Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” The popular eighteenth century poem follows the despondent narrator’s encounter with the Raven, the ominous bird later forces him to realize his never-ending isolation and sorrow due to the loss of his love, Lenore. In his poem, through the use of allusions and the literary devices of repetition and comparison in stanza 17, Poe explores the perpetual effects of loss.
In,”The Raven”, Poe utilizes diction, syntax, and rhymes to convey his theme of depression towards his lost love, Lenore. The raven flew into Poe’s home uninvited and stayed perched on his chamber door. In the story, the raven symbolizes the undying grief he has for Lenore.
Thinkers and philosophers have been pondering misery since the dawn of civilization. At the dawn of humanity, humans existed to survive and reproduce; every day was a struggle. However, with the advent of civilization, humanity has moved further and further away from its original evolutionary drives, and it can be argued by secular thinkers that humans exist now to find happiness. Therefore, misery can be seen as the biggest obstacle to human happiness, yet misery itself is a mystery to many. Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents put forth the authors’ opinions on the origins of mortal misery, and suggest methods to solve the problem of misery. Although the two have differing views, both see
Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, "The Raven" starts off in a dark setting with an apartment on a "bleak December" night. The reader meets an agonized man sifting through his books while mourning over the premature death of a woman named Lenore. When the character is introduced to the raven he asks about Lenore and the chance in afterlife in which the bird replies “nevermore” which confirms his worst fears. This piece by Edgar Allen Poe is unparalleled; his poem’s theme is not predictable, it leads to a bitter negative ending and is surrounded by pain. To set this tone, Poe uses devices such as the repetition of "nevermore" to emphasize the meaning of the word to the overall theme; he also sets a dramatic tone that shows the character going from weary
In 1596, William Shakespeare published the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The origins of this story are uncertain but Shakespeare’s chief source for his adoption of the story was from “…The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, a poem by Arthur Brooke (1562). He also knew the story from Palace of Pleasure, by William Painter, which appeared in several editions prior to 1580.”(Boyce 563) Shakespeare’s classic tale is about “two young lovers caught in the crossfire of a senseless family feud.”(Shakespeare 3) This feud between the two families ultimately is the cause of the two lovers untimely demise. In 1996, Baz Luhrmann produced a modern film of the classic tragedy entitled William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Adding familiar images and common ideas, Luhrmann brought the classic story to modern times. Though Romeo + Juliet has many differences from the original version from Shakespeare, it supports the original characters, themes, dialogue, and key issues of the classic tale of the star-crossed lovers.
The position of God and misery is a quite difficult position. Hume the author of this book wanted to show that not everything has to involve a God and it is not reasonable to do so. Hume’s characters resemble points that generally describe opinions of the general population of the Earth. With this he is able to create a dialogue that all people can relate to. But his intention of this book is not to support all opinions but his own.
Have people ever wondered which is better actually reading the the Romeo and Juliet play that's about true love or being lazy and watching the movie first and go off that ? There are major differences in comparison from the actual play from 1595 to the movie that was made in 1969. That Zeffirelli had chosen to changed while directing the Romeo and Juliet Movie were scenes like the balcony,the fighting, and the very end of Romeo and Juliet Scenes. Why did he do it no one really knows why he did.
Image a family. Now imagine the parents divorcing and never see the father again. Then imagine the mother dying and leaving three kids behind. All of which get taken in by someone. The two year old is given to a family, with a loving mother and caring father. Edgar Alan Poe did not have to imagine this, this was his childhood. Poe’s difficult youth was a heavy contributor to his perspective that pain is beautiful. Poe illustrates many things in “The Raven”, one of his most well-known pieces. “The Raven” is about a depressed man who lost his lover Lenore. The speaker states “’Tis the wind and nothing more!” (Line 36) in his delusional state to help himself cope with his loss. In “The Raven” Poe uses irony and complex diction. This helps Poe create his theme of the human tendency to lie to one self to feel better.
Humans have a tendency to shy away from their sufferings. People are known to reach for stimulants in desperation, overriding the prudence of good judgment. Resorting to alcohol, Edgar Allan Poe himself escaped from painful recollections of his loved ones. “It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.” This quotation written by Edgar Allen Poe, explains the very heart of human behaviour. Humans are notorious for their ability to focus on the negative aspects of life and those who do not acknowledge the bleakness of the world are often caught in the trap of distracting themselves from the agony that surrounds them. The hopelessness within
In conclusion, during the great recession a wave of great depression was caused and a huge factor of that depression is unemployment and job dissatisfaction, reading those two articles it helps in appreciating any job you get, showing that taking pride and working hard in a job will keep you satisfied. I never knew that people would get proud working in jobs like a maid and it is fascinating the level and extent of dedication they have toward their jobs.
Suffering is apart of life, just like joy and love is. We can never choose how life treats us but we can always choose how we react and get back up again. Through Fever 1793 we see up close and personal how suffering can affect us, and how sometimes it can affect us in positive ways. How suffering can help turn the page to the next chapter in our lives. How suffering doesn’t always mean losing but also gaining.
Despite being an age old debate, the question “why must we suffer?” does not yet have an answer. It has been suggested that to truly appreciate happiness, we must struggle and suffer, as we only understand happiness comparatively. In the text The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, the citizens of the city of Omelas are able to enjoy a perfectly happy life by allowing one child to suffer for them. I was repulsed by the treatment of the unknown child who was kept in the basement. In the text, the existence of the child is added after describing for many pages how good and beautiful Omelas is.
Within the poem Poe divides the characters and imagery into two conflicting aspects of light and dark. Almost everything in the poem reflects one world or the other. For example, Lenore, who is repeatedly described as ?radiant? epitomizes the world of light along with the angels she has joined. Another image of light would be the lamplight the character uses to light his chamber, his refuge from the darkness of the outside. However, The Raven, as well as the dreary December night shows signs of darkness. These images of light and darkness go even further to represent life and death, the man?s hope of an afterlife with Lenore and his fear of everlasting loneliness.
According to Brooks (2014), people seek happiness but indirectly obtain several tests that affects their emotions in many ways. Indeed, when people are is questioned about their past, memories coming back to her mind are often the most important positively as negatively. A positive event can be the birth of a child, success. In contrast, a negative event is often links to death, failure, a dismissal, and so on. Suffering or pain also gives us an outside perspective. Without a doubt, suffering makes us human we like it or not. For example, when a friend tells that she has failed an exam and we realize that we could get it easily, it is hard to understand exactly her emotion because we have never been in the situation. But when the same situation arises and you become the concerned, you understand the effect that this failure may have on you emotionally. In this sense, we understand that suffering makes people human because it helps them to be connected to a situation already happened before or which could happen in the future.
The first thing you see when you get into the car, and the last thing you see when you get out. Painting cars is an art, from stock to custom paint there is a lot of possibilities and techniques. Something some people don’t pay attention to and some people its the first thing they look at, and some people make their living by painting cars. In this research paper i will talk about painting and certain various types of custom painting techniques. Painting a car is a good way to make it unique and special to you.