In light of the description of anthropomorphism, I think it is only fitting to use the novels Charlotte’s Web and Watership Down to demonstrate them. While both of these novels show animals behaving in different manners, they are both uncharacteristic of normal animal behaviour. Charlotte’s Web shows animals behaviour as primarily human while Watership Down demonstrates animals behaving mostly as animals. This said, we see that both these novels show their characters with human traits, however they are all confined to their physical limitations as animals. A perfect example of this is Charlotte, from Charlotte’s Web.
However the activities, physical and mental, actions and behaviour demonstrated by the rabbits in Watership Down are typically the things that humans would expect from rabbits. This said, Charlotte’s behaviour in Charlotte’s Web, is what we might expect to see from a human being. Her spinning of the web with a word or two in it is not common activities for spiders. While examining the animal’s actions, partially sheds light on the stories that we are reading. It helps unravel the ideas and advance the plot. It does not however, give us insight into the behaviour, specifically the god-like actions that demonstrate anthropomorphism in both these novels. While all the characters in both these novels are earthly there is usually at least one in each that has some God-like character traits. The anthropomorphism that we see in Charlotte is the prime example being examined from both novels. While Charlotte is Wilbur’s savior and protector, she is still only a spider. White does not give her the physical ability to do things that a spider cannot normally do. Therefore, she must save Wilbur in a way that makes it possible for a spider to do. She spins a web that becomes a miracle, which in turn saves Wilbur from his almost uncertain death. The thought of that is nonsensical within itself. How could a spider have the brainpower to devise such a clever plan to save her friend? This is where White returns to the idea of animals behaving as humans.
While Charlotte is only a spider, she uses the ability that she has (spinning webs) to demonstrate some human actions. The ability to spin a web in such words as "Some Pig". While to a child this might not seem to be as thought provoking as adults make it out to be, it is.
This story is about a hungry spider that wanted to eat at all the feasts in different villages. For the spider to be able to do this he left ropes at each village and when there is a feast, the villagers are instructed to pull the rope. The unexpected thing that the spider did not know was going to happen was that every village food was ready at the same time, and the spider had the rope tied around his waist. Due to the villages food ready at the same time the spider was pulled in all directions and was not able to eat any of the food. The novel’s purpose of this fable is to tell a story of why do spiders have small waist, but it is also supposed to show the both Ishmael and the audience that live is unpredictable even when things are
In the article Skin Deep written by Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin, they discuss and look deeper into the diverse differences in skin color. Our skin color has developed over the years to be dark enough to prevent the damaging sunlight that has been harming our skin and the nutrient folate that it carries. At the same time out skin is light enough to receive vitamin D.
reacts to the crosser. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker’s first impression of the swamp
Drifters by Bruce Dawe This poem is about a family that’s always on the move, with no place to settle down for long, hence the poem was titled ‘Drifters’ to describe this family. ‘Drifters’ looks at the members of this family response to frequently change and how it has affected them. This poem is told in third person narration in a conversational tone. This gives the feeling as if someone who knows this family is telling the responder the situation of this family.
The book I read was The Island by Gary Paulsen. It is about a 15 year
Henry Ford is a prime example of a company unsuccessfully attempting to expand overseas. Ford realized that producing his own supply of rubber materials would drastically cut down on expenses and therefore make his own business much more successful. While Ford may not be the nicest or fairest man towards other people, everyone can agree that he has lived a very successful life, becoming famous for single-handedly revolutionizing the automobile industry. However, despite his success in America, his Fordlandia project abroad was a complete failure due to many reasons. As Fordlandia never justified its existence economically, increasingly it was billed as a civilizing mission to take American values to another country and its people.
While working, there were people who would come from remote areas and watch her weave skillfully. On page 19, the text says, “If Athene herself were to come were to come down and compete with me, she could do no better than I.” Her bold action was challenging Athene, a goddess, to a weaving competition. Additionally, on page 19, “Arachne herself flushed red for a moment, for she had really believed that the goddess would hear her.” Arachne took an action that could possibly embarrass herself. During their competition, Arachne had designed “a pattern of which showed evil or unworthy actions of the gods, how they had deceived fair maidens, resorted to trickery, and appeared on earth from time to time in the form poor and humble people.” and Athene had designed “a border of twined branches of the olive, Athene’s favorite tree, while in the middle, figures began to appear. As they looked at the glowing colors, the spectators realized that Athene was weaving into her pattern a last warning to Arachne.” Athene had created that embroidery to warn Arachne, and Arachne made an embroidery to disgrace the goddess. Arachne’s bold action caused Athene to be angry and then turned Arachne into a spider. Arachne’s consequence for her bold action was her descendants and herself to turn into
In Daniel Wallace’s novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions and Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish, the relationship between the dying protagonist, Edward Bloom and his estranged son, William Bloom, is centrally to the story in both the novel and film. Like many fathers in today's society, Edward Bloom wishes to leave his son with something to remember him by after he is dead. It is for this reason the many adventures of Edward Bloom are deeply interwoven into the core of all the various stories Edward tells to mystify his son with as a child. Despite the many issues father and son have in their tense relationship as adults, Daniel Wallace and Tim Burton’s adaptation of Wallace’s novel focalizes on the strained relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom. In both Wallace’s novel and Burton’s film, they effectively portray how the relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom is filled with bitter resentment and indifference towards each other. Only with William’s attempt to finally reconcile with his dying father and navigating through his father fantastical fables does those established feelings of apathy and dislike begin to wane. With Burton’s craftily brilliant reconstruction of Wallace’s story does the stories of Edward Bloom and his son blossom onto screen.
This is being demonstrated toward other people on the island, most importantly Piggy. The statement “They talked, cried out unintelligibly, and lugged him towards the trees. Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched bands” (LOFTF, 57), revealing that Simon has the Skills to take charge and lead but at the same time maintain his good in him. Simon is starting to appear be the hero for the people on the island, by providing them with food to survive. He is being unselfish and giving toward
The fundamental characteristic of magical realism is its duality, which enables the reader to experience both the character’s past and the present. In the novel, Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses this literary device to address the the trauma and mistreatment of the Haisla community in Canada by unveiling the intimate memories of the protagonist, Lisamarie, and the resulting consequences of this oppression. Monkey Beach illustrates how abuse in the past leads to another form of self-medication in the future - a neverending, vicious cycle for the members of the Haisla community. Many characters in Monkey Beach are scarred from childhood sexual abuse and family neglect, and resort to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These appalling memories are an account of the impact of colonization on the Haisla territory which continues to haunt the Aboriginal community throughout generations.
Jack and the Judge, here is where we mainly see the web at work. Jack, at the request of Willie, went to dig up dirt on the Judge. Jack finds so many things out and as he exposes it everything goes wrong, the spider got him. When Jack reveals his findings to Judge Irwin, his father, he ends up killing himself before Jack has a chance to talk to him father to son. Although, for the most part, Jack's goal as stated at the beginning of the book was that he was to pursue truth and knowledge, he needed to leave this alone because it was a pursuit of knowledge, but it had no positive motive behind it, and, as we have encountered in previous books throughout the year and throughout this one, truth is not always a good and noble thing. In this case the truth led to what destroyed the Judge and Jack was pursuing the truth.
Repetition is used profoundly to help the reader understand the symbols and themes throughout the poem. It creates the emphasis that the speaker is praying and searching immensely for his connection to eternal life. It also creates an effect on the reader that the speaker and the spider are similar in the same way, repeating similar actions. “Artful repetition of keywords and phrases occurs throughout ‘A Noiseless Patient Spider.’ This is a strategy Whitman employs in many poems … but it is particularly appropriate here, because the repetition echoes the repetitive nature of the spider’s actions and longings of the soul,” (Napierkowski and Ruby 31: 192-193). The repetition portrays the yearning desire of the spider and the speaker to find their connections. In the second stanza Whitman writes, “Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them…” (Whitman 212). He repeatedly uses verbs in this line to show how tremendously the speaker wants to find his reattachment to society. It emphasizes the persistent activity of the speaker’s soul. Repetition is one of the many great rhetorical devices Whitman uses. Not only is it shown in this poem, but he also uses it in many other poems to create themes and different aspects. “Whitman’s poetry exudes a sense of music throughout, not in the traditional manner, but in a new vein, much of it emanating from his expertise in using the repetition of sounds, words, and phrases to create expressive rhythms,” (Philip K and Irons-Georges 5: 2704). This rhetorical device has created many different characteristics in Whitman’s poems, and has especially created one in “A Noiseless Patient Spider.” Without his repetition throughout the poem, the portrayal of the themes separateness and desire for connection would not have been understood by the
While they agree that the beast is not a traditional monster, it is Simon’s philosophical understanding that allows him to fully realize the meaning of the beast. At the assembly, Ralph plans to discuss the beast, hoping to bring the fear to an end. Simon suggests that the boys themselves are the beast. Later, when Simon encounters the “Lord of the Flies” in a hallucination, the reader learns the extent of his understanding. The Lord of the Flies mocks Simon by saying, “Fancy you thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?”(128). Simon realizes that there is something within humans that can cause them to act savagely. However, at the assembly, in an effort to understand what Simon meant about the beast, the boys suggest that the beast could be a ghost. Piggy firmly rejects this idea because he approaches the beast in the same way he handles most situations: logically and scientifically. As Piggy states, “Life… is scientific, that’s what it is…. I know there isn’t no beast- not with claws and all that, I mean- but I know there isn’t no fear either… unless we get afraid of people” (72). Piggy understands fear can have detrimental effects, but he does not yet understand that fear is within every person, and this is the “beast” that can cause people to act without
Susanna at the Beach, by Herbert Gold, presents a tale of the virtues characters admire strictly contrasting with the vices for which characters are consumed. The characterization of the main character, Susanna, is portrayed as embodying seven “heavenly virtues” including chastity, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness, humility, and charity. While the other characters in the story personify the seven “deadly sins” including lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, pride, and greed. Herbert Gold depicts a theme of virtues versus vices utilizing the literary device of characterization in Susanna at the Beach as supported by the character depiction from the biblical reference of Daniel and Susanna.
As we ponder over our reading experiences as children, almost every American will remember reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. How we read as children and how we read as adults is not at all the same. One might state children read for the pleasure of the story and adults simply read too much into the given text. However, one must realize the images being portrayed to our children. How could a story about a pig and a spider relay unwanted messages to our children? It is important to remark how social guidelines are presented in this text. The most obvious is the assignment of gender roles to the characters Not only does this affect the human characters in the story, but it also affects the farm life. The other social guideline found in this text is the barnyard society. This society can in turn represent our human society. These two guidelines of society are taught unknowingly to our children through this story. What is perhaps the most surprising is how little attitudes have changed. This book was originally published in 1952 and these stereotypes still exist in our society forty five years later.