Barriers come in many different shapes and forms. Sometimes they are more literal such as jail cells or windows and in other instances they can be more figurative, as in disabilities and such. However, how the barriers affect us is what is put into show in both the novelist Daniel Keyes’ and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s works. The theme of being barred out of an outside world and having your body or soul shackled within, is expressed using figurative language and detail by both Keyes in Flowers for Algernon and Rilke in “The Panther”. In the poem, “The Panther”, Rilke applies symbolism, repetition, personification and hyperbole to describe the panther as having a strong will turned hopeless due to its imprisonment. Throughout the poem, …show more content…
Daniel Keyes diction of an elementary level conveys Charlie’s troubles of trying to fit in with a disability. After the operation, he wishes that it would “reely work so (he) could get smart like evrybody else” (8.24) Charlie’s extreme want to be smart drives his determination to learn, but his disability limits his potential to get to the level that he desires. As the bars cage the panther from experiencing the world outside, Charlie’s disability cages him from reaching his goals. As Charlie’s “intelligent” days come to an end, he realizes that “Warren was the logical place—the deep freeze where (he) could be put away for the rest of (his) days.” (15.220) When Charlie knew that he would revert back to his previous state, he wanted to be isolated so he would no longer have to struggle trying to be or get smart. Keyes’ metaphor of Warren being related to a “deep freeze” conveys the message that Charlie would be stuck in there forever. (??????) Keyes utilizes similes to reveal how Charlie thinks about himself. Charlie describes himself as a “man born blind who has been given a chance to see the light.” (11.107) Just as how the panther has the will to see certain images at certain times, Charlie views the effect of his operation as a world of brightness after being locked away for so long. In this case, the lifting of “the curtain of the pupils”(9) relates to Charlie’s mental capacity increasing. However, the fact that he was once in a state where his disability held him captive is always an issue and Charlie believes it to be the place he has been trying to escape from for so long. Charlie gets agitated with the professor for treating him like a lab specimen, making it clear that he is “not a guinea pig any more.” (17.288) Charlie thought of himself as a guinea pig before the operation, similar to algernon. He felt like a specimen that was confined and
'"What's wrong with a man becoming intelligent and wanting to acquire knowledge and understanding of the world around him"' (pg.528). This quote comes from the Short story, Flowers for Algernon. The quote shows how all Charlie wanted was to be normal and smart, like everyone else on planet earth, and wanted to understand what was happening around him. Also to make the most out of the things around him and make himself and others proud of what he can do, but people are not understanding him. Flowers for Algernon the novel and the film Awakenings can be studied together because of their important similarities along with some notable differences regarding Lenard and Charlie, making it difficult for the reader and viewer to refrain from
In Night by Elie Wiesel and Welcome to Hard Times by E.L. Doctorow, the reader witnesses the purpose of hope in one’s life. Wiesel and Doctorow fabricate their works around the trials and tribulations one suffers and what causes one to persevere to continue living. Elie and Blue, characters in the works, experience a life full of suffering and destruction. Even through this, they both live on with a purpose unknown to the reader, and perhaps unknown to themselves. Elie and Blue live on, but to no avail it seems, as both authors end their works with an ultimate destruction of the lives of their characters. However, Wiesel and Doctorow express that Elie and Blue persevere through their lives entirely as a result of hope. These authors suggest that suffering will exist in everyone’s life, and amidst this suffering one often searches for meaning. As Elie and Blue demonstrate, hope determines one’s meaning and purpose in life. Wiesel and Doctorow prove that one’s hope defines one’s existence; however, that hope only masks the futility of life, through the presentation of Elie and Blue’s construction of hope, destruction of hope, and adaptation of hope.
Symbolism, similes and themes helped guide the reader to gather ideas and information about characters in this book about how you can amount to anything if you try hard enough. Walls shows you can come from any background and still make a name and a life for yourself. Jeannette
From a young age we are taught the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” While this may be helpful for grade school children that are being bullied by their peers, it has some problems as it trivializes the importance that words can have. The words that people choose for themselves, as well as the words that others ascribe to a person, have an unmeasurable importance to how people can understand themselves. These labels can be a significant source of oppression or liberation for many people who identify within them. In Eli Clare’s memoir, Exile and Pride, looks at the importance of words as he explores the labels he’s associated with. He does this through mixing discussion of the histories and modern representation
Oppression is the systematic method of prolonged cruelty and unjust treatment, often intended for those who are deemed “different” by a hierarchical society. It’s a basis that can be found in the plot of a fictional movie or novel, but most importantly, it’s an aspect of both past and modern life that has affected multiple nations. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, is a humanitarian who embodies the personal experiences of what being oppressed feels like – how it itches at one’s skin like the hatred and stares directed at them. The reason he is so important is because of his stories; what he has seen. The insight and intelligence he has brought forth further educates those who had previously accepted the world with their eyes closed.
The ways in which Wilfred Owen’s Disabled and Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise present the overcoming of burdens are very intriguing. Each character possesses a burden that stands in their way, holding them back in life. In Disabled, the individual’s burden is the disability, trauma, and loss afflicted onto him by war and in Still I Rise racism, stereotypes, and a rough history endured by africans is Angelou’s burden. Though the authors experience very different problems and portray opposite atmospheres they contain similarities and use many of the same devices such as symbolism and juxtaposed antithesis points to deliver their messages.
Charlie is a lost boy, just like the rest of us in life...lost. Just when you think you know what you are doing or where you are going you find yourself lost. In this case Charlie is lost in high school a whole new world that he is traveling through, he grows up faster than you would expect. There is no right way to approach school. It how you decided to handle the challenges in school that make you who you are. We are all lost traveling through a dark tunnel, and all searching for the light.
...pewell, and the Professor learn that their once thought superiority over others is truly a flaw of character, that is to say a disability. All in all, simply because one is physically disabled does not mean they are intellectually incapacitated. As a matter of fact, those who are “physically able” may well be intellectually immobilized. As the once great Sioux Indian, Black Elk said “the power of it was in the understanding of its meaning” (Neihardt 169). This statement runs true in the present day for many people take for granted the physically disabled and act superior to those who cannot walk, talk, see, or hear. Understanding the meaning of things is power. Coming to that realization is an event that will strengthen a person and allow them to live better. In a nutshell, knowledge may be power, but sorry Sir Francis Bacon, fathoming conceptions is a superpower.
Confinement and freedom are two patters that are distinguished in this poem. This poem starts out with a dreary setting, but in the last two lines, the poet finds peace. William Wordsworth uses human beings, nature, and himself to illustrate confinement as a positive aspect in our daily life. In the first few verses of this poem, Wordsworth compares human beings to their choice of confinement. In love five and six, Wordsworth relates confinement as a
... reader. Throughout the book, Charlie unfolds secrets and truths about the world and the society that he lives in; secrets and truths that cause him to grow up and transition into adulthood. He also makes a life changing decision and rebelled against was he thought was the right thing. This reflects his maturity and bravery throughout the journey he travels that summer. Charlie eyes suddenly become open to the injustice that the town of Corrigan demonstrates. He also comes to face the issue of racism; not only shown towards his best friend Jeffrey and the Lu family but to Jasper Jones as well. He realises the town of Corrigan is unwilling to accept outsiders. Charlie not only finds out things that summer about the people that surround him, but he also finds out who he is personally.
It is commonly believed that the only way to overcome difficult situations is by taking initiative in making a positive change, although this is not always the case. The theme of the memoir the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is that the changes made in children’s lives when living under desperate circumstances do not always yield positive results. In the book, Jeannette desperately tries to improve her life and her family’s life as a child, but she is unable to do so despite her best efforts. This theme is portrayed through three significant literary devices in the book: irony, symbolism and allusion.
...ndurance of poverty, as we witness how Walls has turned her life around and told her inspiring story with the use of pathos, imagery, and narrative coherence to inspire others around her (that if she can do it, so can others). Jeannette made a huge impact to her life once she took matters into her own hands and left her parents to find out what life has in store for her and to prove to herself that she is a better individual and that anything is possible. Despite the harsh words and wrongful actions of Walls’ appalling parents who engage her through arduous experiences, she remained optimistic and made it through the most roughest and traumatic obstacles of her life at the age of three. Walls had always kept her head held high and survived the hardships God put upon her to get to where she is today; an author with a best selling novel to tell her bittersweet story.
The barbarous images illustrated in the poems of tortured souls were so harsh to picture and not even experience in real life. In the first poem “Strange Fruit,” we get this image of discrimination
In literature, blindness serves a general significant meaning of the absence of knowledge and insight. In life, physical blindness usually represents an inability or handicap, and those people afflicted with it are pitied. The act of being blind can set limitations on the human mind, thus causing their perception of reality to dramatically change in ways that can cause fear, personal insecurities, and eternal isolation. However, “Cathedral” utilizes blindness as an opportunity to expand outside those limits and exceed boundaries that can produce a compelling, internal change within an individual’s life. Those who have the ability of sight are able to examine and interpret their surroundings differently than those who are physically unable to see. Carver suggests an idea that sight and blindness offer two different perceptions of reality that can challenge and ultimately teach an individual to appreciate the powerful significance of truly seeing without seeing. Therefore, Raymond Carver passionately emphasizes a message that introduces blindness as not a setback, but a valuable gift that can offer a lesson of appreciation and acceptance toward viewing the world in a more open-minded perspective.
Someone who helped him with issues and often tried to correct his out of control actions. His teacher also known as Siobhan assisted him with getting through things without the guide of any medicines that could be impeding to his wellbeing over the long haul. With Farghers article about medication, Mairain Corker and Tom Shakespeare argue that " Medication is a way of coping with pain and ideally we just need a sense of strength and both the medical model and the social model seek to explain disability universally and end up creating totalizing meta-historical narratives that exclude important dimensions of disabled people's lives and of their knowledge"(15). Haddon makes it well known that Siobhan is the character in his novel that knows how to break through and fully understand Christopher. In a section of the book, Christopher says "when people tell you what to do it is usually confusing and does not make sense"(139). Siobhan understands exactly what Christopher is saying. Siobhan is made out to be a positive role model to set an example for Christopher's father and to show readers how Christopher and people like him should be treated. Siobhan set aside the opportunity to make sense of how Christopher thinks/figures things out, and she adjusted to his lifestyle in order to understand him better. In an article about disability in society, Preston states that "disability is a single concept