The powerful story of “The Birthmark” takes us back in the latter part of the 19th century (Hawthorne,1843,327). This short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, ironically, is perfected on lessons of imperfection. Moreover, Hawthorne illustrates his story of unavoidable earthly sin through the use of different symbols that are represented in “The Birthmark.” Yet, this story can be viewed in various ways by equally varied readers. Let us take for instance the impeccable lesson of philosophy on life, nature, and the conflicts in between. If you take the circumstances and outcomes of our beautiful character Georgiana and our opposing character Aylmer, her husband, one can walk away from this story with a renewed outlook on life.
The house of Usher looks run down, scary, and gloomy, like a haunted house. The setting in the first two pages creates this sad and scary mood throughout the rest of the story. Poe uses words such as “black, vacant, decayed, gray, gothic and sluggish” to create the atmosphere. This creates a very effective atmosphere in the entire story and the story revolves around the atmosphere in its entirety, showing that this is no ordinary house and there is evil involved. Edgar Allan Poe uses settin... ... middle of paper ... ...uses setting in the story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” to set the overall mood of the story, to foreshadow what will happen at the end of the story, and show character traits.
This essay aims to look at the relationship between Gothic and religion and/or occultism in the two texts The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde and Dracula by Bram Stoker. Firstly, it is important to highlight the definition of occultism. The word occult means the study of the supernatural. In the Picture of Dorian Grey, the occult and religion are key factors in the novel. The novel highlights the occult because of the supernatural powers that are given to the painting and the unusual properties the painting has.
The social tragedy of Ethan Frome connects with the concept of light vs. dark through the author’s usage of the imagery, the emotions of the characters, and the impact of the imagery on the events in the drama. Within Ethan Frome, the author, Edith Wharton,
Two popular fictions that follow the themes and conventions of gothic fiction are Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Guy de Maupassant’s “The Horla”. Both are short stories that embody most of the conventions that can be associated with stereotypical gothic literary fiction. Both literary works use the deterioration of the human mind and the supernatural phenomenon throughout the story, a commonly used gothic convention. Although both stories are inherently different in aspects like narration, they are both successful in demonstrating the descent of the human intellect from obsessing over the unknown which only leads to self-destruction. Fear is a guiding force in both the short stories and the fixation the main characters with it only leads to their demise.
The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism, colors, for example. Throughout the book the author uses them to represent different themes of the novel. Some of these colors are white, yellow, grey, green, pink, red and blue. However, I picked white and green for my commentary because I think these colors have a special meaning different from the others. White is mainly used to describe the character’s innocence, fakeness, and corruption.
Ethan was continuously drawn to Mattie throughout the novel, as she was much more attractive and amicable than Zeena. In the novel light was an important motif. When light was shed on Zeena it “…drew out of the darkness her puckered throat… and deepened fantastically the hollows and prominences of her high-boned face under its ring of crimping pins”. The author used light in order to emphasize Zeena’s austere and worn face illustrating her cold personality. When light was shed on Mattie it “…drew out with the same distinctness her slim young throat and… it threw a lustrous fleck on her lips, edged her eyes with velvet shade, and laid a milky whiteness above the black curve of her brows”.
Poe describes the houses aura as the “hideous dropping off of the [opiate] veil.” (896) A “fine tangled web-work [falls] from the eaves” (Poe 898) and fungi has “overspread the whole [stone] exterior.” (Poe 898) Poe also describes the house as suffering “the discoloration of ages.”(898) These describers symbolically tell the story of a woman’s life. Poe’s use of the term veil conjures images of the wedding veil, a distinctly feminine aspect of the wedding and is symbolic of youth, vitality, and the beginning of a marriage. From the energy of youth, the house faces disintegration, stagnation and ultimately a stillness of vi... ... middle of paper ... ...traints and expectations of society. As the house loses it’s battle against the feminine with “tarn … clos[ing] sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ‘House of Usher’” (Poe 909) so to does Roderick lose his battle. Looking further at the character of Madeline, if one views her as a projection of Roderick’s feminine qualities, may provide and expand insight into the argument that ultimately, that which he has tried to suppress overwhelms him.
Kezia proceeds to find fault with the state and proportions of the doll's house and perfection with the lamp in its simplicity. As others take interests in the gaudy nature of the house, Kezia rebels: "But the lamp was perfect. It seemed to smile at Kezia, to say `I live here.' The lamp was so real." Conflict intensifies as Kezia remains the odd ball.
A 1 km distance from the center of explosion, it was the first to bud in September of the same year. The tree is now known as the "bearer of hope" for the people of Hiroshima. The temple was built around this mighty tree. The front stairs are divided in half to surround and protect the tree. "Engraved on it "No more Hiroshima" and people's prayers for peace."