Scar Vegas, written by Tom Paine, is a book compiled of 10 unusual short stories that gesture toward a deeper understanding of reality. Almost all the stories can be viewed as variations on the theme of how the `powerful' (different perspective of power within each individual character) oppress the weak and while doing this, Tom Paine often relates to the uneasy moments when two cultures collide.
These `themes' are apparent in "General Markman's Last Stand," about a retiring Marine commander stealing a bra from the local Post Exchange. In the story the general's fetish, I feel, is paradoxically made to stand for his humanity, whereas those who ridicule his weakness come off as brutal. This situation may have been an exaggerated form relating to the parts of the American culture that are unable to accept different points of view or lifestyles.
Will You Say Something, Monsieur Eliot? is about a wealthy American whose yacht is wrecked in a storm during a single-handed sail. After drifting with part of his mast for days, he is picked up by a boat full of Haitians whose sails have been destroyed by the storm. They are ecstatic to learn that Eliot is a rich American because they are naïvely certain that with him aboard they will all be rescued under orders from the president of the United States. But when a helicopter finally arrives, the Americans only take Eliot away and the Haitians are left to go on drifting, fate unknown. Showing us how people have the conception that Americans are powerful.
"The Hotel on Monkey Forest Road," is about two best friends, Andrew and Sherm who are assigned to build a hotel complex on Bali. After spending some time in Bali with his new stewardess girlfriend, Andrew goes "l...
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...ut we know he doesn't have many close relationships. `Dude' is considered very weak in this story, while they are traveling they are targeted, not even because they were driving a stolen vehicle, but because of how they looked and dressed.
Society tends to judge people unfairly based on how they look, and after one of `Dudes' transformations into a normal suburban kid, people changed their perspective, even though he was the same person inside. The colliding cultures in this story were the anarchists and the `normal' people judging and protesting them. The collision in this story was actually physical. No matter what perspective you had while reading this story, it really made you think about the many different sides of people. I think that being able to relate this so closely to situations that I see everyday, is one of the reasons I enjoyed this story so much.
...e of reality, seizes the pleasures in their lives and portrays a loss of freedom. Both their perfect worlds were full of lies and instead of shielding its inhabitants from evil they gave individuals no rights of their own. What appeared in the beginning as a perfect utopian society was actually an imperfect dystopian environment.
...s a combination show the unfathomable broadness of this cultural value as well as portraying the submissiveness of women as something that they are destined to become. This value in particular may also associate with racial and class stereotypes and operates in the same manner.
It deals with obstacles in life and the ways they are over come. Even if you are different, there are ways for everyone to fit in. The injustices in this book are well written to inform a large audience at many age levels. The book is also a great choice for those people who cheers for the underdogs. It served to illustrate how the simple things in life can mean everything.
Throughout an individual’s life-time, he/she has a vision as o what his/her should be. But when things do not go as planned and the unexpected occurs, does that person face it, or run away? In “An Act of Vengeance” by Isabel Allende, running away is not an option at well. Through the usage of plot, character and irony, Allende illustrates the cost of war.
The opening paragraph of the story contains a metaphorical passage: "I stared at it in the swinging light of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside"(349). This reference is significant because it is a contrast to the dismal society that the narrator and his brother Sonny live in. The darkness is the portrayal of the community of Harlem that is trapped, in their surroundings by physical, economic, and social barriers. The obvious nature of darkness has overcome the occupants of the Harlem community. The narrator, an algebra teacher, observes a depressing similarity between his students and his brother, Sonny. This is true because the narrator is fearful for his students falling into a life of crime and drugs, as did his brother. The narrator notes that the cruel realities of the streets have taken away the possible light from the lives of his brother and his students. The narrator makes an insightful connection between the darkness that Sonny faced and the darkness that the young boys are presently facing. This is illustrated in the following quote:
It concerns violence in the society as an essential social concept in the story that needed to be observed. The man and his boy, however, decide not harm others unless violence is required for their survival. There are many elements to this novel that mean a lot more than it appears to. As it exhibited by the author in the story, the father consciously formed his character and his response to the conflict between self and society when he talks to his son and says, “You,” he reminds the kid, “are no stranger to that feeling, the emptiness and the despair. It is that which we take arms against, is it not?” (Robinson 89). His brave is measured by different social facts such as honesty, tolerance, and optimism to express a personal value and follow an individual goal instead of the opposing with the
What I liked about the book was the ways it showed how humans really act. How when civilization leaves and fear takes over we are left as savages. Basically in all humans, evil exists, and we eventually have to release it. It illustrations how, if put the ideal situation, the evil inside man can surface from where it is contained and come to light in the most alarming and upsetting ways. There were many conflicts in the novel; civilization vs. savagery, order vs. chaos, good vs. evil, and reason vs. impulse. They all illustrated humanity and the inner conflicts we may go through each day, yet not as big and heightened as the boys went through in the book. Made me wonder how this book could be applied to today’s society.
The way they hold themselves with contorted stature gives away that they are able to corrupt peace. The shorter man in the white shirt with a black flag symbol on it shows that he may be ignorant to what his shirt represents. His shirt stands for anarchism, a political statement that wants stateless societies that are self-governed (Marshall 4). Anarchism is dealt with in harmful ways back when is first began in the mid 1800s. The symbol on the shirt the boy is wearing represents the time when anarcho-punk bands joined anarchism and made the circle with an ‘a’ through it a national symbol. The girl on the other hand, on the far right hand side, portrays risqué attire. With a cut off shirt and what looks like patched up clothing, can show a lack of respect for ones body. The boy who has his arm around her, looks similar in attire. It shows that he is not wearing a shirt and only a jacket. He looks like he is want-to-be band boy. The boy on the left side has hands raised looking as if he is trying to scare the mother, and by the look on the mothers face, the boy has succeeded. These kids aren’t helping make socialization a good thing what so
Themes: While each chapter acts as its own separate theme for the text, there are themes inside of the chapters that are apparent as the reader works their way through the text. One of these themes is identity. Many soldiers identified as Christians and that Christianity was challenged when they were forced to kill enemies and faith was shaken by the overwhelming cruelty and death. In response to this, there were soldiers that would dress as Native Americans, people whom they viewed as savage, before/after killing, because they could then identify with their more savage side (37).
Backpack Literature defines theme as “the general point or truth about human beings that may be drawn from” a story. Most novels do not have one single theme, but instead have many themes spread throughout. Some of the themes may be related but others can come from opposite ends of the spectrum. The Great Gatsby has several themes that are related such as greed, lust, and selfishness. One of the themes that stood out to me was that some people will never be fully satisfied. This is demonstrated by Jay Gatsby’s continuous us of illegal activities to make more money to impress Daisy, by Tom Buchanan’s affair with a mechanic’s wife even though he was already married, and by Jay Gatsby constantly throwing parties to try and win Daisy back after
The Dispossessed develops two parallel and dependent stories alternating with one another. One on the anarchist moon of Anarres, the other on the capitalist world of Urras. The Anarres story works by flashbacks in the life of the physic...
It shows the need for people to conform to societal expectations to survive and thrive in society. It also shows the consequences of going against those expectations to purse matters of the heart, whether that is helping a condemned man or trying to keep your family from being taken away. Fighting these societal expectations puts a target on these people’s backs, which is why so many people decide to just succumb to these expectations, which is much easier on these
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The story “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison displays a few specific themes through the story which are easy to depict. A few themes from this story are, first racism and finding his self identity, then the danger of fighting stereotype with stereotype, and last blindness. These themes play an important role in the story to better help the reader understand it.
Cormac McCarthy's brilliant descriptions of the landscape of the desert southwest in Blood Meridian can be seen to have a dual purpose. In one sense they are the lone highlight of a novel filled with gruesome realities. In analyzing the setting's features and connections to the novel's plot and theme, the reader can see that the setting is an element vital in plausibility of the plot and the understanding of the novel's underlying meaning.
The idiom “revenge is sweet” appears so frequently that one might think the cliché is true, yet the nature of revenge is far more complex and may leave more bitterness in its wake. The cyclical nature of revenge and man’s inhumanity to man means it has a propensity to intensify and devastate the people in its wake including the inflictor. Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits examine the theme of the nature of revenge through the presence and significance of prominent characters seeking revenge in both Latin American novels.