Write a critical analysis of the passage from A Handful of Dust
starting is mummy coming back today? (p55) and finishing I've been
carrying on anyhow this week (p 57), showing how far you think it
typical of Waugh's methods and effects in the novel.
The passage starts with John Andrew, the most innocent person in the
novel speaking. He is questioning the absence of his mother and
waiting eagerly for her return from "monkey-woman's party". His father
reassures him that she is sure to be back that very day. John Andrew
points out that Brenda would not have seen Thunderclap for four days,
this is sweet as he misses the point that she has not seen her own son
for four days either! It shows how attached little John Andrew is to
his horse, as if he were in his mother's shoes he would not be
desperate to get back to his mother but to his horse. We know that
Brenda and Tony do not play a big part in John's life, he has a nanny
and is close to the stable boy, and sees him as a role model.
It is clear to see that Tony had been suffering with from loneliness
and missing Brenda by his reply to the stationmaster, "I've been
expecting her every day". The two have a little chat while they wait
for Brenda's train to arrive. The stationmaster refers to Brenda as
"Her ladyship", a title she certainly does not live up to on her
jaunts to London. She herself admits it when she sees that the two
have come to the station for her "I don't at all deserve it"
Waugh puts a brilliant little speech together for John to tell his
mother on the way home. It is very amusing as it is written as a child
of his age would speak. It has little punctuation and is one very long
sentence containing lots of different information about the p...
... middle of paper ...
...time she is done Tony is agreeing to the flat.
I found there were two main points which sprang to mind, regarding
Waughs methods and effects in this piece. Clearly this story of
marital betrayal relates closely to Waugh's personal experience and he
seems to be remarkably generous towards Brenda. Her behaviour is
clearly compulsive; "I've found a flat" and she is outspoken "I've
been carrying on anyhow this week". Waugh remains very compassionate
in his attitude to the faithless Brenda and allows no sign of anger in
Tony, which would have been well-justified, he just says "no harm done
then."
Also, this passage has a great range of ironic implication and it is
in parts exceptionally funny; the irony of Tony reacting to Brenda's
confession of "carrying on madly with young men" by inferring that
buying a Pekingese would have been far worse is pure farce.
In Richard E. Miller’s essay, The Dark Night of the Soul, he first focuses on two teenage boys, boys who murderously rampaged through Columbine High School in Santee, California. Then he further discusses who was to blame, but most importantly would this event not had transpired if education had a more adamant impact if these young men had read more. Simply, would Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold killed if there was a more proactive approach to the educational system or government to “reduce or eliminate altogether the threat of the unpredictable or unforeseen [the amalgamation of elements that would result in a mass shooting] (Miller 421).”Additionally, if McCandless, a young man who eulogized the idealisms of authors that he used to make sense
Imagine feeling guilty for making it out alive on a journey. In the nonfiction novel, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, he documents his journey to the summits of Mount Everest and ultimately accuses himself for holding acquisitiveness responsibility for the disaster on the mountain. After realizing only one-fourth of the people that climbed to the summits on May 10, 1996, made it down back to base camp alive, Krakauer theorizes about why that was so. He attributes most of the reason for the disaster to the erratic weather along with hubris, he wanted for the thought of leading a group to the mountain. Despite those reasons, there is no ultimate reason for the deaths documented in the book, but bottom line the climbers that died didn’t thoroughly comprehend the danger they were going to encounter as a consequence that contributes to the disaster.
Abstract: Krakauer attempts to figure out exactly what went wrong and what happened to whom. He does extensive research and painstakingly traces the actions of every climber on the mountain. He theorizes about the breakdowns of the expedition, and attributes the disaster to a series of small mistakes. He includes himself, and explicitly blames himself for at least one person's death. The experience affects him profoundly, and in addition to telling the story, the book focuses on how Krakauer is forever changed as a result of what happened.
In the book “Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer, Jon describes his experience summiting and descending the one and only Mt. Everest. The tallest mountain in the whole world.During his journey he endured many life threatening events such as almost blacking out, getting caught in a storm, and many others. However he was one of the lucky ones, because out of that whole crew, 8 people died. That is the most recorded in one expedition ever.I believe there are two things that contributed to the deaths in this book. The greed of Nepal primarily is a factor, and also the lack of knowledge the people have that seek this rush of climbing Mount Everest. It is not anyone's fault in particular but there is topics to be blamed. A lack of knowledge can mean life or death in many various scenarios.
One of the most important things in life is finding one’s self. Although this may be difficult to achieve, it is necessary. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, struggles with finding her true identity. This led to her round and multi-layered character. Janie has trouble finding herself due to other characters depriving her from the opportunities she has; she allows other characters to take advantage of her. Although Janie has a very independent personality in the novel, she is dependent on others to make important decisions for her.
J.D. Salinger conveys The Catcher in the Rye’s meaning by combining three of the novel’s elements: Holden’s personality, resistance to having guidance in his life, and actions. Primarily, he uses Holden, The Catcher in the Rye’s protagonist, as an example of a teenager who has failed to develop during the essential period of youth. Additionally, he uses the characters of Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini to act as voices of reason to Holden, while also showing Holden’s missed opportunities in life when he does not take their advice. Lastly, Salinger utilizes Holden’s desire to act both older and younger than his age to show the dangers that come with poor decision making, as well as their consequences. The main purpose of Salinger’s novel, The Catcher
Similarly to the way people hold expectations for the daystar, or sun, to rise every day, mothers are expected to perform their duties like cleaning the house or taking care of the children. Both are taken advantage of and are not fully appreciated until they stop performing their duties. Throughout the poem, the woman’s daughter and husband are given names, “Liza” (line 12) and “Thomas” (line 17) respectively, but not her. The woman is only referred to as “she” or “her” which further highlights the lack of acknowledgement she receives. The mother is taken for granted by her family and is not regarded as important. Her efforts are ignored and she is never thanked for completing her tasks around the house because that is the role she is “supposed” to fulfill.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, tells the story of Meursault. It is about Meursault an indifferent young man living in France. It shows what leads up to Meursault committing murder, the murder, and the aftermath. Albert Camus writes the story in first person narrative. The Stranger being written in first person narrative shows us why and how Meursault is so isolated. This in turns shows us how extreme isolation leads to disinterest in society, and in this case, murder.
¨When societies come under stress these kinds of things happen. People start looking around for essentially human sacrifices. They start looking around for somebody they can blame.” Margaret Atwood proposes this in an interview with Bill Moyers. The kinds of things she is speaking of is exactly what we observe in The Crucible by Arthur Miller which tells the story of the Salem witchcraft trials where many were punished and killed. In Arthur Miller’s ¨Why I Wrote The Crucible¨ we witness innocent people being blacklisted for conspiring with communists. All of these defend what Margaret Atwood declared in her interview. When a society comes under stress, we always find someone to blame.
Can moral obligations be blinded by religious views? For some, the sense of religious pride reigns stronger than the moral belief. In the beginning, citizens of Hillsboro from the novel Inherit The Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, acknowledged religion as something far more valuable than the moral truth. As the novel continues the prosecuting attorney, Matthew Harrison Brady, enters the scene which reveals the prejudice of the courtroom regarding the case of Bertram Cates. When Brady takes on the challenge, the exposure of excessive pride and boasting of recent cases won can be seen as a certain Dramatic Personality Disorder from a medical standpoint. Throughout the novel, more symptoms of the disorder are revealed through Brady, who continuously proves to have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder or otherwise known as NPD.
In the book Ask the Dust by John Fante, the main character Arturo Bandini, is a 20 year old Italian American from Colorado who comes to Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a famous writer. Arturo is very talented and can become the next big writer but faces many obstacles that stop him in his tracks. Things like his own immaturity and desire for acceptance impair his ability to achieve his dream. In the beginning of the book, Arturo is very immature and lets his desires get the best of him, but at the end of the book he becomes more objective and mature. The growth of Arturo is astounding and can be separated into stages of development. He comes to a realization that you can 't just be stuck up on something but you have to be able to move on.
For my Literature Circle assignment I read the novel entitled The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger.Taking place in the 1950's, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular American books of all time, though, its hero is not really a hero at all. Main character Holden Caufield, is a 17 year old, disproved and misunderstood, classic "screw-up", who does poorly in school, loses his team's equipment, and takes an impulsive trip to New York. Distraught by the death of his 11 year old brother Allie, Holden wanders around his birthplace of New York, reconnecting with old friends and making new enemies. The main conflict of this novel is Holden transitioning into an adult and trying to cope with his brother’s death. One main theme displayed all throughout this novel would be depression. For the duration of this novel, Holden spends his time alone, and even if he is in the company of other people, you hear his thoughts of being depressed. Most of this depression is derived from his brother’s death, but there are many other things accountable for his mental issues. Although much of this novel was just Holden’s opinions and thoughts, I found this novel to be very interesting and thought provoking.
Before we explore Zora Neale Hurston’s literary content of “Sweat” in relation to feminism theory, we must first understand the meaning behind feminism theory as well as the Author and setting in which this short story takes place. I intend to use multiple sources from scholarly peer-reviewed journals and websites that help back my sentiments of Zora Neale Hurston using her literature to illustrate a time of women empowerment. While some may argue that this story paints a picture of great sorrow for women, I believe that it is that very argument that can used to show how women still thrive after being mistreated with inadequate respect in comparison to men overall. There are many aspects of “Sweat” that allows the woman to not be depicted as
The 20th century consisted of vast changes in themes and values compared to previous decades of writing. This change is due to the world catastrophes and modernization affecting the overall perspective on life and humanity. One writer’s novel that demonstrates progression and changes in the 20th century is Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust. He is compared to other 20th century authors, as well as previous novels in his collection, due to his satirical focus and significant change in style and themes. He focused on the truth of humanity based on his own opinions and experiences to convey the message of the importance of tradition and true understanding of modernism. Waugh’s novel, A Handful of Dust, is described as one of the most interesting pieces of literature by several critics, and is considered “as one of the most important English writers of the Twentieth Century” (Trout 237).