In D. H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" and Graham Greene's "The Destructors" the reader can immediately see both the differences as well as the similarities in both stories from the authors' choices of setting, tone, and characterization. The author's use of imagery and the plot in both stories makes it clear that materialism can play a great part in how people's attitudes and behavior are affected and altered towards others because of a lifestyle filled with misfortune.
In "The Destructors" and "The Rocking Horse Winner", the authors' background and writing dispositions are very similar. Both authors are British and once lived in London. Lawrence and Greene both convey a setting that takes place after the Great Britain war. Their stories involve families with upper-class status but struggles because of insufficient income, while still holding on to a form of their perceived identity of wealth. The family in "The Rocking Horse Winner" lives in a pleasant house with a garden with discreet servants. They feel themselves to be superior to anyone in the neighborhood (Lawrence 365). Trevor in "The Destructors" comes from a family "that had come down in the world" since his father lost his job as an architect becoming a clerk. Even though there is a change in wealth, a glimpse of his mother's attitude is revealed as she still consider herself to be better than the neighbors. Where the setting of the "Rocking Horse Winner" being inside a large rich looking house with voices crying out for more money; the setting of the "The Destructors" starts being outside in the obliterated city only to go into a house to destroy it.
The tone of the "Rocking Horse Winner" is set in the very first sentence as the author introduces a be...
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...bly too young to work becomes an obsessive gambler winning money for his mother to earn income that grown-ups usually do. Poverty is turned to fortune but turns back to poverty as the boy's mother spends the money hastily because of her greed and selfishness. Then tragically the precious life that she had but did not love who brought her luck comes to a sudden end.
In "The Rocking Horse Winner" the characters were more concerned about their selfish desires and need than with the relationship of family. Misfortune brought resentment and bitterness focusing on materialism than love. The same theme is seen in the "Destructors." Not only did the gang uncarelessly destroyed the house of another because of the misfortunate environment that they found themselves, but even at the end a driver laughs after he realizes that Mr. Thomas' house fell in his face.
In the short story “Thrill of the chase” it explains that materialism is sometimes not noticed. For
A young 12-year-old boy by the name of Aaron Kurlander faced many hardships when he was left to fend for himself while his family was separated from him in the 1930’s depression era in St. Louis at the Empire hotel. Aaron uses his imagination and sense of reality to survive and he never seems to let his spirits sink. While Aaron was left to fend for himself, his father seems to think he had good reasons for the families absences; Aaron’s brother Sullivan was shipped off to go live with relatives, his mother (Mrs. Kurlander) admitted to a sanitarium for tuberculosis, and his father (Mr. Eric Kurlander) who was a door-to-door sales man who sold wickless candles left town to travel for a watch
The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.
Shirley Jacksons short story The lottery and Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, Harrison Bergeron are both dystopian texts. They demonstrate a way of life that violates our sense or rightfulness but are found acceptable and ordinary to the characters. A dystopian world is often propagandized as being a utopia and has a futuristic totalitarian or authoritarian government that exerts complete control over the public which results in the loss of individuality and freedom. Even though both texts have entirely dissimilar concepts the reader can still recognise the depraved and immoral lives the characters believe are essential to their way of life. The societies portrayed in both texts are illusions of utopian worlds, even though the reader views the characters lifestyle to be revolting, dehumanized and sickening. The authors also caution the readers of the extreme dangers associated with the blind acceptance of their lifestyle just because of tradition and society’s acceptance.
She’s considering having an abortion. On the other hand the daughter wants to get merry to her African boyfriend he wants her to move with him to Africa. Momma is very excited to own her first home and they also refuse to take the money from Mr. Linden, they are tired of living in the apartment, momma thinks a house is the best investment. The son is going through some extremely hard times after losing all that money trying to open a liquor store. In the story the son faces more problems the son has the most problems for example he’s in charged of the house after his father die he took over all the responsibility he’s father had. During the 1950s after the father die the son usually took over the family and all its
For the next few years, Ella struggles to raise her children in Memphis, Tennessee. Her long hours of work leave her little time to supervise Richard and his brother. Not surprisingly, Richard gets into all sorts of trouble, spying on people in outhouses and becoming a regular at the local saloonand an alcoholicby the age of six. Ella's worsening health prevents her from raising two children by herself and often leaves her unable to work. During these times, Richard does whatever odd jobs a child can do to bring in some money for the family. School is hardly an option for him. At one point, the family's troubles are so severe that Ella must place her children in an orphanage for a few weeks.
William Faulkner elected to write “Barn Burning” from his young character Sarty’s perspective because his sense of morality and decency would present a more plausible conflict in this story. Abner Snopes inability to feel the level of remorse needed to generate a truly moral predicament in this story, sheds light on Sarty’s efforts to overcome the constant “pull of blood”(277) that forces him to remain loyal to his father. As a result, this reveals the hidden contempt and fear Sarty has developed over the years because of Abner’s behavior. Sarty’s struggle to maintain an understanding of morality while clinging to the fading idolization of a father he fears, sets the tone for a chain of events that results in his liberation from Abner’s destructive defiance-but at a costly price.
He always started the fire to burn the barn when the conditions is too frustrating for him to bear and then he moved to other place. However then when he moved to another place, he just have to face another problem, impossible demand from the high class people and he eventually snap and do another arson. The circle of their family is never-ending, they are always moving but they are moving in the same patterns. As people who came from low class society it is evident that they want to start a new life, to be able to someday somehow become part of the high class people. Another thing is that it was also stated that the story takes place somewhere after the civil war, a war to end slavery in south, but then, the south life at the time actually has not change at all. The southern people nature and their characteristics are actually still the same when they still undergo slavery. The difference is, as the story suggest, the high-class become even meaner to the
Sarty has moved twelve times in his ten years of age and although the story does not state clearly, that this is not the first time his father has set fire to a barn, but shows that the chances are, that he probably has done this in the past which has affected Sarty in how he feels about his father. Sarty’s other family members include the mother, aunt, an older brother, and two twin sisters who are minor contributing factors in this story. The family knows the father is responsible for the burning of the barns and they even unwillingly help him at his requests. This story describes the family somewhat concerned for the father, but they never challenge his decision to burn the barns even though it is wrong.
“Barn Burning” is about the struggle of a boy to do what is right during the Post Civil War era. The main character, Sartoris Snopes, is a poor son of a migrant tenant farmer. In the opening scene he is being asked by a circuit judge about the burning of a farmer’s barn by his father. The boy does not tell on his father and is not forced to do so, but he thinks that he would have done so had he been asked. The father, Abner Snopes, served in the Civil War for both sides and has difficulty venting his anger. Usually he does so through the burning of other people’s barns when they wrong him. The symbol of blood is used by Faulkner to contribute to the theme of loyalty to the family.
“The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. (Jackson, pg. 112)” How is it so that a story with such a happy and optimistic beginning ends so horrifically? “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, begins with a calm, but almost eerie normalcy where the townsfolk gather for their annual lottery; the children are at play, and the adults scattered in their groups, talking and laughing joyfully. But at the sight of the daunting black box and the beginning of the lottery, the crowd settles rather quickly. The heads of families draw white slips of paper, one of which contains a black dot. The head that draws the dotted slip paper must draw again, but with only him and his family drawing to determine the member that will be stoned to death. It is at this moment that the audience realizes the horror of the story; Tess Hutchinson, the unlucky lottery winner, is stoned to death by her community, her family, and even her son as they follow an
In a young boy’s life, making the morally right choice can be difficult especially when the choice goes against someone that is suppose to be respected, such as a parent. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner is a coming of age story about a son of a poor and evil sharecropper. Showing the difference between good and evil, Faulkner uses character descriptions and plot, revealing Sarty’s struggles’s as he chooses between making the morally right decision or to be loyal to a dishonest father.
Understanding literary elements such as patterns, reader/writer relationships, and character choice are critical in appreciating William Faulkner's Barn Burning. Some literary elements are small and almost inconsequential while others are large and all-encompassing: the mother's broken clock, a small and seemingly insignificant object, is used so carefully, extracting the maximum effect; the subtle, but more frequent use of dialectal words which contain darker, secondary meanings; the way blood is used throughout the story in many different ways, including several direct references in the familial sense; how Faulkner chooses to write about poor, common people (in fact to the extreme) and how this relates to the opinions of Wordsworth and Aristotle; and finally, the relationship between the reader and writer, Faulkner's choice of narrator and point of view, and how this is works successfully.
"Barn Burning" is a sad story because it very clearly shows the classical struggle between the "privileged" and the "underprivileged" classes. Time after time emotions of despair surface from both the protagonist and the antagonist involved in the story.
William Faulkner is concerned with the south and its problems with black slavery. The issues in Barn Burning deal with the conflict between father and son. The theme of this story focuses on justice. The boy, Sarty, objects to his father burning barns and wants people to be treated fairly. His father, Abner, believes his son should respect and support kin. Abner thinks family is right no matter what. Faulkner’s intent is to show that choosing between one’s own family and justice is very difficult to do, and in the end justice must prevail. The theme is best illustrated by its point of view, its characterization, and setting.