Through an in depth analysis of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘North by Northwest’ (NBNW) it becomes evident that society’s quest can change even the most unlikely individuals. This is clearly epitomised in the transition of protagonist Roger Thornhill in terms of the way in which he conducts himself. Through the comparison of Thornhill’s values and personality at the beginning of the film and towards the end of NBNW it becomes evident that as a result of the journey Thornhill has embarked upon to clear his name, it has also resulted in the clearance of the loneliness that was present in his life and the egocentric characteristic of his nature. The initial impression of Roger Thornhill is a wealthy advertising executive with very little time for matters which aren’t work related. Thornhill’s …show more content…
Consequently, his oblivious and dismissive attitude leads Thornhill to find himself knotted in adversity and in the middle of a government mission. This is demonstrated in the opening scene of NBNW were Thornhill and his secretary Maggie take a taxi to the Plaza Hotel. The scene begins with a two shot of Thornhill and Maggie getting into the back seat of a Taxi. Whilst jotting something down on her notepad Maggie says ‘You knew you were lying’ referring to how Thornhill snatched a cab by telling the intended passenger that his secretary is a sick woman and he needs the cab for an emergency. Thornhill’s response as he casually opens up a newspaper is ‘Maggie, in the world of advertising there’s no such thing as a lie, there’s only the expedient exaggeration.’ In this scene it
The purpose of this book is to address the issues of seclusion from society. Christopher has plenty of opportunities but chooses to give it all up for life in the wilderness. “I had been granted unusual freedom and responsibility at an early age, for which I should have been grateful in the extreme, but I wasn’t.” p.148. “Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the great white north. No longer poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.” p.163. Christopher spends several years on the road.
Waythorn, the main male figure, in Edith Warton’s, “The Other Two,” takes a journey of psychological development. At the beginning of the story, we find he has returned home early from his honeymoon because, his new wife’s daughter has taken ill. He describes himself as being “surprised at his thrill of boyish agitation,” (220) as he is waiting for his wife to join him for dinner. This is part of his initial conflict, his emotions are changing, highs and lows, something which at age thirty-five, “he fancied himself already in the temperate zone” (220).
“I now walk into the wild” (3). It was April 1992 a young man from a rather wealthy family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness. His name was Christopher McCandless. He gave all of his savings to a charity, abandoned his car in the desert, left all his possessions, burned his money and wallet, and invented an alter ego all to shun society. Four months after his adventure, his decomposing body was found in bus 142 by a moose hunter. Into the Wild is a riveting novel about one man’s journey to find himself and live as an individual. Although, Chris McCandless may come as an ill-prepared idiot, his reasons for leaving society are rational. He wanted to leave the conformist society and blossom into his own person, he wanted to create his own story not have his story written for him, and he wanted to be happy not the world’s form of happiness.
In Richard Yates’ fictional novel Revolutionary Road, April Wheeler, Frank Wheeler, and John Givings all seek escape from their current captive situations in suburbia; however, while April and Frank employ concrete methods of escape, the mentally unstable John Givings has no solid plan of escape. Foremost, April Wheeler is a young woman seeking freedom and independence, which also means getting away from her suburban life. She first attempts her escape when she joins the Laurel Players in a production of The Petrified Forest. Full of hope, April dreams of something different and exciting. Her dreams are crushed when the play crashes and burns. Her face that she puts on for the stage, bright, glowing, and covered with makeup, represents her dreams for something bigger. Once she fails, she retreats back to suburbia, removing her makeup and revealing a “graceless, suffering creature” with a “constricted” appearance and a “false” smile (Yates 13). The more April tries to conceal her disappointment, the more her anger builds. Soon, she snaps, declaring that her husband Frank has pu...
Society tends to encourage virtuous qualities such as kindness, patience and optimism, indeed, these are virtuous qualities that could make up potential leaders and role models. But, the irony is that in some circumstances virtues can become a hindrance not just to yourself, but the people around you as well. This happened to Aunt Burnie, a gentle caretaker of the narrator and two girls Min and Jade, in George Saunders’ “Sea Oak”. Due to burglary, Aunt Burnie’s life came to an end, but due to strange circumstances she was resurrected. This resurrection changed her completely Aunt Burnie was no longer her pleasant self but full of spite and anger due to her life experiences and her compensation in death. Though she worked hard and was complacent
Throughout a lifetime, one can run through many different personalities that transform constantly due to experience and growing maturity, whether he or she becomes the quiet, brooding type, or tries out being the wild, party maniac. Richard Yates examines acting and role-playing—recurring themes throughout the ages—in his fictional novel Revolutionary Road. Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple living miserably in suburbia, experience relationship difficulties as their desire to escape grows. Despite their search for something different, the couple’s lack of communication causes their planned move to Europe to fall through. Frank and April Wheeler play roles not only in their individual searches for identity, but also in their search for a healthy couple identity; however, the more the Wheelers hide behind their desired roles, the more they lose sense of their true selves as individuals and as a pair.
T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” is set in the 1960s, a time, as the narrator sees it, “when it was good to be bad” (125). As a result, he believes he is a “dangerous character” and strengthens his image by doing rebellious things in his town. However during his journey to and back from Greasy Lake, he is thrown into a different setting, where his experiences tint his understanding of humanity. The narrator transforms from someone who thinks he knows who he is, to losing his sense of self, then being shocked back into reality, and finally becoming aware. The narrator’s perception of nature and his surroundings parallel the regression and evolution of his understanding of self-awareness.
Another important journey Jane makes is from Gateshead back to Thornfield having visited her aunt Reed on her deathbed. By then Jane realizes that she loves Rochester. A key theme is raised here, Jane fierce desire to love and to be loved. She feels alone and isolated when she has no friends around her. This is a sharp contrast compared to other characters’ search for money and social position.
Carver develops the narrator’s tone chronologically from disdainful to cautious to introspective by deepening his relationship with Robert to express the false perception of strangers that assumptions can produce.
The concept of what is "individuality" and what is not has plagued and delighted man since the dawn of time. “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy adds 302 more pages to the pile of all the works that have been on the quest to define individualism. In this novel, McCarthy takes us through four faces of the key character’s life, John Grady, to portray the idea of illusory individualism. He contends that John Grady is simply a product of a society in contrast to his (Grady) notion of free will. Simply put: Grady has no alternatives but an obligation to conform to society. McCarthy uses him to create the platform in which to comment on oppression of individuality, expectation of conformity to the values of the society and the fact that the concept of individualism is a myth.
Into the Wild by John Krakauer is a rare book in which its author freely admits his bias within the first few pages. “I won't claim to be an impartial biographer,” states Krakauer in the author’s note, and indeed he is not. Although it is not revealed in the author's note whether Krakauer's bias will be positive or negative, it can be easily inferred. Krakauer's explanation of his obsession with McCandless's story makes it evident that Into the Wild was written to persuade the reader to view him as the author does; as remarkably intelligent, driven, and spirited. This differs greatly from the opinion many people hold that McCandless was a simply a foolhardy kid in way over his head. Some even go as far as saying that his recklessness was due to an apparent death-wish. Krakauer uses a combination of ethos, logos and pathos throughout his rendition of McCandless’s story to dispute these negative outlooks while also giving readers new to this enigmatic adventure a proper introduction.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
Many aspects contribute to the formation of a person’s self-identity. Whether it be their surroundings, their culture, their language, or even other’s personal identities, they all shape one’s perception of the world, the self-imposed rules surrounding them, and where they believe they belong within it. This world is encompassed with stories, and they contribute to the fabrication of everything ever known. It is these stories and histories that surround all things that play a comprehensive role in the formation of one’s identity. Jasper Fforde, in his novel The Eyre Affair, demonstrates and testifies to this through both his use of intertextuality and characterisation. Within his novel, Fforde places a significant emphasis onto literature. In the world of The Eyre Affair, literature, novels, and fiction are one of the world’s most precious and bounteous achievements, even to the extent that an entire division of law enforcement is dedicated to the protection of the art form. The fictional world of Fforde’s central character, Thursday
Charles Van Doren has a life that many people would be envious of. He is a member of one of the country’s most intellectual and well respected families. His uncle, Carl, is a noted historian and his father, Mark, is a distinguished professor at Columbia University as well as Pulitzer-prize winning poet. Even his mother, Dorothy, is a well known author with several highly recognized pieces of literature. Charles is following in his father’s footsteps as he works as an instructor at Columbia preparing to take over for his father once he retires. Unfortunately for Van Doren, he feels that he lacks an identity in this family of overachievers. At this point in his life, he believes that he should have accomplished enough that people don’t have to refer to him as “the son” but rather address him by his name. Clearly Van Doren doesn’t realize how fortunate he is and that compared to nearly all the men in America, he is still more of a success than any of them will ever be. This insecurity and tragic flaw will ultimately lead to his demise over the course of the film. The question becomes not whether or not this tragic hero will do anything to gain the spotlight that his relatives have gained but rather to what extent will he be willing to compromise his values in the process.
Although the entire novel tells of only one day, Virginia Woolf covers a lifetime in her enlightening novel of the mystery of the human personality. The delicate Clarissa Dalloway, a disciplined English lady, provides the perfect contrast to Septimus Warren Smith, an insane ex-soldier living in chaos. Even though the two never meet, these two correspond in that they strive to maintain possession of themselves, of their souls. On this Wednesday in June of 1923, as Clarissa prepares for her party that night, events during the day trigger memories and recollections of her past, and Woolf offers these bits to the reader, who must then form the psychological and emotional make-up of Mrs. Dalloway in his/her own mind. The reader also learns of Clarissa Dalloway through the thoughts of other characters, such as her old passion Peter Walsh, her husband Richard, and her daughter Elizabeth. Septimus Warren Smith, driven insane by witnessing the death of his friend in the war, acts as Clarissa's societal antithesis; however, the reader learns that they often are more similar than different. Thus, Virginia Woolf examines the human personality in two distinct methods: she observes that different aspects of one's personality emerge in front of different people; also, she analyzes how the appearance of a person and the reality of that person diverge. By offering the personality in all its varying forms, Woolf demonstrates the compound nature of humans.