I Regret Not Saying Hello
In So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell, he depicts the sculpture of the “Palace at 4 a.m.”, a piece of art made of wood, glass, and wire, as a theme for his feelings of regret, the grief he has from his mother’s death of Influenza, and the regret during the murder-suicide of Clarence Smith and Lloyd Wilson after their misery of adultery. The place where Maxwell met Cletus also is represented as a symbolic feature throughout the story that seems to parallel the “Palace at 4 a.m.”. Throughout Maxwell’s story he instantly has the presence of guilt, remorse, and loss in his life. He felt it since the day his Mother died, and he seemed to portray these themes on to Clarence and Lloyd. His friendship with Cletus
He describes this piece as “a very fragile palace of matchsticks” which seems to symbolize the emotional position Maxwell is currently in (27). This sculpture somehow captivates him, probably throughout the ways in which it resembles Maxwell’s state, and throughout this story and it seems to be a way in which Maxwell is able to be relieved of his regret, remorse for the death of his mom, and through the decision to not speak to Cletus. It is as if Maxwell’s interaction with Cletus would have been the key to coming to peace of all his acts and for all the words left unsaid. In the novel, it is almost implied that Cletus stood for all the words, thoughts, and memories that cannot be erased, whereas the “Palace at 4 a.m.” stood for the redemption of these elements. Maxwell states, “He walks in the Palace at 4 a.m. In that strange blue light. With his arms outstretched, like an acrobat on the high wire. And with no net to catch him if he falls” (147). Giacometti’s sculpture was an object of unity that helped support the real dilemma in the story, which is Maxwell’s passing by of Cletus instead of acknowledging him. At the palace, Maxwell could be in a sort of dream where failure was not a detrimental element, but where it could be erased, and the idea of falling without a net will not kill him just as his failures, losses, and regret would also not kill
His desire to see his mother again and to go back to the day he passed by Cletus in the hallway and just say “Hi’ was enough for him to set things right again. It is at the “Palace at 4 a.m.” where Maxwell is relieved of the loss of his mother and the regret of passing by Cletus in the hall without saying a word, by putting what has happened behind him and having hope for himself stating, “he could go on and by the grace of God lead his own life, undestroyed by what was not his doing” (149). This Palace is the place where Maxwell can go to imagine what could have been and it is there at the “Palace at 4 a.m.” where things that have been done can be undone because you can walk from room to room through the walls with nothing stopping you from going backwards and where you can almost rewind the time. Maxwell is able to, therefore, accept all that has happened, even though it cannot be reversed in real life but can be reversed in his mind. Only until this time, can Maxwell finally be freed of his emotions and
The artwork is very interesting as the painting is very detailed and have a strong sense of symbolism behind the center piece. The content of the Monument to Mignard can be looked at a grieving woman thinking about her husband on a platform of a monument. There is two cupids grieving to the left of the man and in front of the woman. One cupid sitting on the edge of the platform clutching a dead bird on its arm, symbolizing that there is death between the two lovers. The other cupid that is standing up crying holding its right hand against the side of the man, which symbolize that the man has passed away and not among the living. There is an angel looking down at the vicinity of the man, woman, and the two cupids. The angel himself could be the angel of death, which takes the dead to heaven. The painting takes place inside building that is probably around the roman era because of the perfect arches and their integration of the Greek Doric columns. There is a total of eight columns, four on each side that supports the arch in the upper middle par...
Sculpture is a medium that artists in ancient Greek commonly used to express spoken truths in an unspoken form. Every piece of ancient Greek sculpture has more than what the eye sees to explain the story behind the [in this case] marble.
Fonny gives one of his first sculptures to his girlfriend’s mother; when describing the sculpture, his girlfriend, Tish, says, “It’s not very high, it’s done in black wood. It’s of a naked man with one hand at his forehead and the other half hiding his sex. The legs are…very wide apart, and one foot seems planted, unable to move, and the whole motion of the figure is torment” (Baldwin 38). This sculpture acts as a foreshadowing symbol in the novel because, like the sculpture, Fonny is a vulnerable black man who tries to avoid being raped, but he ends up being tormented and imprisoned in wood and stone. Also, like the sculpture, Fonny is ultimately left in the care and prote...
Fischl creates a scene of chaos in this picture through the way he uses his paintbrush in the painting of the dress. The brushstrokes show in an untidy way, which creates a feeling that this woman’s life may be in chaos. At least, it has not gone the way she intended it to. Fischl expresses this through the sense that his brushstrokes do not seem to have gone in the way he intended them to. At the lower left part of the dress, it appears as though he could not be bothered to straighten the lines out or fix the colors. This seems to suggest that the woman, tired and disillusioned wit life, can no longer straighten it out, either. Her posture seems to follow Fischl’s painting technique and suggests hopelessness, as though she has tried everyone and nothing has made her happy.
“If thou feelst it will relieve thy suffering, speak out the name of thy fellow sinner. Be not silent because thou wouldst protect him.” (Hawthorne 21). This was said by Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, one of the main characters of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. He says this to his secret lover, Hester, as she stands on the scaffold in front of the entire Puritan community that the story takes place in. She is standing there with her three-month old child, Pearl, as a part of her punishment for her sin of committing adultery. The purpose of the scaffold in this novel is to represent the shame and torture that Hester and Dimmesdale each handle alone and to show how hypocritical and judgmental the Puritans were.
In the beginning of Maus the reader is thrown into a scenario of the Author, Art's, many visits to his
Charles’ sculptures are meant to be seen by stepping back and seeing the pieces from a distance. As the point of view shifts, the wide strips of steel become thin lines, that make certain angles vanish as others come into view.
The main thing that stands out in this painting is the uneven weight of the painting. The weight of the painting is in bottom of the painting in a semicircle. The uneven balance, of weight, makes it impossible for the painting to have symmetry. Which further adds to the sense of doom and hopelessness of the crash. Symmetry makes a painting appear unified and organized. Like a landscape painting were the balanced weight of the painting, and clear symmetry adds a calming effect and allows you to take in the whole scene.This piece uses the exact opposite approach of symmetry, and balance of weight, to create a disorganized chaotic piece. About doom and hopelessness in the face of this tragedy,
Finally in Cat’s Eye, the cat’s eye marble does appear in the last painting, (Unified Field Theory,430), which depicts the Virgin of Lost Things holding the marble in front of her, in the place where the cold little girl had once seen a red heart (200). Beneath her is the ‘night sky’, but Elaine explains that the darkness hides all the things that are there as well, things in the ‘underside of the ground’ (431). The last painting is in other words, a depiction of darkness. What the Virgin and the marble she holds represent is Elaine’s recovery of her memory of the dark time of her childhood and also of the value of seeing that darkness.
In Elizabeth Bishop’s villanelle “One Art” she expresses a depressing tone of the woman’s losses mixed in with imagery and nonchalant diction to fully represent the situation she is in. The poem starts out with making the act of losing something an art, and trying to prove it “isn’t hard to master”(1). The diction of making losing something a skill creates the sense to the audience that it is beneficial to be able to loss things with ease and no worry. The “Then practice losing farther, losing faster” (7) creates the image of how more valuable items are getting lost, but since the woman has “mastered” the feeling of losing, she feels as if it is okay. This sense of extreme conotes the illogical thinking behind the entire situation as a whole. As she loses more sentimental items, “I lost my mother’s watch” (10), it helps create the feeling
The unveiling of a piece of artwork symbolises the gradual revelation of the girl’s feelings. At the beginning of the text she seems to have no emotions, “Live. Survive. They’re the same thing” and “she thought the thoughts of a machine.” She is portrayed as robot-like and is not in possession of feelings or vulnerability. However, over the course of the story, she progressively gives in to her overwhelming, pressing emotions. “She took off her watch and bikini and lay in the sun” and “She ran naked down to the water.” This can be perceived as the beginning of the exposing of her emotion; her nakedness introduces a sense of vulnerability, a quality not associated with machines. In addition, the leaving behind of her watch reinforces the idea of the deterioration of her ‘robotness’. The watch is a symbol of time and regulation, the girl choosing to abandon it, represents her no longer needing to rely on regulation and control. By the end of the story, her true emotions had surfaced, “No, you old bitch” and “She cut through the water and filled up cold with anger”. She is no longer machine–like and automatic. This final display of emotion is represented through the uncovering of the artwork. The man whom is uncovering the piece symbolises the mother. It essentially was the girl’s mother who filled her daughter’s head with her “stupid, recurring statements” and as a result, emotion. Furthermore, the exposure of her emotions coinciding with her death implies that, although emotions are stereotyped as something beautiful to share, her emotions were engulfing and devastating. In conclusion, the disintegrating of her ‘robot-like’ armor is represented through the uncovering of a piece of artwork.
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
Authors’ incorporation of symbolism in their writing not only helps convey ideas and concepts without stating them explicitly, but it also significantly contributes to the theme. Through the medium of a symbol, whose physical characteristics closely relate to those of its corresponding meaning, authors allow their work to reach much greater literary depths; symbolism gives the reader the opportunity to analyze the implicit and more significant meaning behind what is unequivocally written. To achieve the same effect, Nathaniel Hawthorne provides various examples of effective symbolism in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, especially in the form of the scaffold. The novel’s protagonist, Hester Prynne, has an adulterous affair with the minister of the community, Reverend Dimmesdale, while her husband’s whereabouts are unknown. During that time period, Hester has a daughter, providing solid evidence of her extramarital affair to her community. She is therefore punished to stand for three hours on the scaffold, and to wear a scarlet A, which stands for adultery, on her dress for the rest of her life. The scaffold on which Hester must stand for public humiliation holds special significance throughout the duration of the novel. It also becomes the setting of Dimmesdale’s extreme guilt and his eventual courage in confessing his sin. Hence, Hawthorne effectively transitions the symbolism of the scaffold from humiliation to cowardice to courage, so that it parallels the novel’s themes of isolation, human weakness, and sin.
The Metropolitan Museum's website entry for this piece gives insight into its purpose with a translation of the inscription:
Edgar Allen Poe, a famous novelist from the 18th century, is known for being a treasure trove for allusions, illusions, clues, and all sorts of literary fun. Born in 1809, this Bostonian never had it easy. Marriage to a 13 year old cousin, family problems, and deaths surrounded him. Over time, such tremendous struggle began to reflect in his writing, creating the dark and moody tone we now see today. One such piece, The Fall of the House of Usher, tells the tale of a man who goes to visit a dying friend on his last days. Roderick Usher is the name of this dying man, although he doesn’t seem dead in the beginning. However, the deathly state should be of no importance to the reader; death is the very essence of Poe’s writing. Rather, the reader’s attention should be deviated toward the unusual twin of the story,