Desperation Essays

  • Desperation in The Glass Menagerie

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    rest of her family, is the pitfall for Tennessee Williams where he pressurizes kindred desperation in The Glass Menagerie only to produce hopelessness as the ultimate outcome. Expressing the turmoil in the life he sees before him, Tom curses "How lucky dead people are!" (1.3.34). The Glass Menagerie, written by Tennessee Williams, portrays a dysfunctional family succumbing to the recurring destiny of desperation and remorse. Amanda, the mother of two adult children, desperately tries to prod her

  • Desperation By Stephen King

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    Desperation, a recent Stephen King novel, is not just a book, but an experience that leaves the reader frightened, paranoid, and questioning his moral beliefs. Picture, if you will, a lone, crazed Nevada policeman who pulls over vehicles on a lonely desert highway and forcefully takes away their occupants. Whichever of them he doesn’t kill immediately, he locks up in the jail of the small desolate town of Desperation. Among those captured are the vacationing Carver family, whose RV is sabotaged on

  • Free Essays - Human Nature in Hamlet

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    brother, the good of the country, and the happiness of many to fulfill his ambition. He cares only for himself. Knowingly or not, most humans, at one point or another, will be driven by greed. Most, however, will not have the determination and desperation that Claudius displays. This is partly because of the differences of the times. In the time period that Shakespeare wrote the play, murder was heavily frowned upon as it is now. Greed is part of all people. They see something they want and they

  • Literary Device and Their Uses

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    The authors in each story had a very similar theme: socially repressed African-American characters struggling to be accepted in the white-man dominated society. In the likes of Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" and Ellison's "Battle Royal", we see the desperation for each character to belong someway, somehow. While these two stories focused more on the struggle, such stories as "The Rocking-Horse Winner" give us true light on human nature. The story that captured my attention and sympathy the most was "Battle

  • Report on Gullivers Travels, Part 3

    1387 Words  | 3 Pages

    himself. Alone on a land he has managed to reach, he sees an unusual island, which he describes as "floating in the air, inhabited by men, who were able. .. to raise, or sink, or put it into a progressive motion, as they pleased" (Swift 26). His desperation to survive conquering any fear of this weird-looking island, Gulliver attracts the inhabitants' attention and allows them to take him up to their island. As literary critic Frank Magill points out, the floating island of Laputa is inhabited by strange-looking

  • Essay on the Illusion of Escape in The Glass Menagerie

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    Belle. Laura sits in a dream world with her glass collection, and Jim basks in the praises of his high school glory. In their respective ways, they demonstrate their restlessness. The quotation from Thoreau, "The mass of men lead lives of the quiet desperation," applies to the characters in that they are all unhappy, but take no action to improve their situation in any significant way. Tom, as the narrator, explains to the audience the progression of the play and allots this with "the pleasant

  • Explain the formation and the break down of the First Triumvirate

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    in some cases these where unprecedented. There are some key factors that have to be considered towards the break down of the Triumvirate. The most powerful and influential people, the Optimates became increasingly dis empowered, and a sense of desperation to regain power is felt with the use of Pompey in an a final attempt to restore power to the Senate. "By uncompromising refusal to meet the demands of Pompey, Caesar and Crassus the senate naturally drove them into each others arms. The three

  • Alcohol and Despair Depicted in Ernest Hemingway's Short Stories

    2606 Words  | 6 Pages

    situations in which desperation already resides. In an examination of his earlier works, such as In Our Time, a comparison to later collections reveals the constant presence of alcohol where hopelessness prevails. The nature of the hopelessness, the desperation, changes from his earlier works to his later pieces, but its source remains the same: potential, or promise of the future causes a great deal of trepidation and lament throughout Hemingway's pieces. Whether the desperation comes from trepidation

  • Riding The Rails

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    youth, who gave their accounts about leaving their homes in search of a better life. I think Riding the Rails gives a very clear and accurate view of how life was for young teenagers during these historical times. During the 1930’s at the time of desperation and hardship people were affected by economic conditions that were beyond their control. These conditions brought about hunger, loss of homes, and lack of jobs. At the height of The Great Depression there were more than 250, 000 teenagers living

  • Free Waste Land Essays: The Lifeless Land

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Waste Land:  Lifeless Land As The Waste Land begins, Eliot enters into the barren land, which the audience journeys across with the author through the course of the poem. "The roots that clutch" immediately evoke a feeling of desperation. Roots in the rocky soil Eliot describes are a base from which to grow; just as roots in plants gain nourishment from soil, these roots "clutch" infertile ground, desperately seeking something to gain from nothing. The question "what branches grow" suggests

  • Thoreau's Proposed Solution in Walden and Civil Disobedience

    1834 Words  | 4 Pages

    the way in which we live our lives. Thoreau sees this problem and goes to Walden Pond to find the solution. Yet his solution is controversial in that it seems to propose actions that go against human nature. Thoreau's prescription for American desperation cannot be accepted by the masses for it is rooted in anti-socialism when humans are essentially social in nature. However, this conclusion is not entirely accurate, as one needs to explore Thoreau's entire solution and the intent of what he is saying

  • The Film "O brother, where art thou?"

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    American people during this time. From the start of the film it is apparent what time frame it is taking place in and the differences in the social stratification through the lack of colors. One of the most obvious portrayals of the bleakness and desperation of the era is the overall faded and washed-out look of the whole film, due to manipulation of the film saturation; the heaviness of it almost cries out to the audience. Though the film was shot during the summer, cinematographer Roger Deakins and

  • Cyrano De Bergerac

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    inability to act normally around a woman he is attracted to, much like the majority of modern adolescent boys. This lack of confidence in one area of his life quickly spreads and begins to affect his everyday life, as shown in Act IV when his desperation for a female partner leads him to risk his life on a daily basis by delivering love letters across enemy lines on foot. Given that Roxane only really knows her "lover" through his letters, she builds an image of him in her mind that corresponds

  • Illusions of Escape in The Glass Menagerie

    3150 Words  | 7 Pages

    problems, however, stem from their inability to effectively communicate with each other.  Instead of talking out their differences, they resort to desperate acts.  The desperation that the Wingfields embrace has led them to create illusions in their minds and in turn become deceptive.  Amanda, Tom, and Laura are caught up in a web of desperation, denial, and deception, and it is this entrapment that prevents them, as it would any family, from living productive and emotionally fulfilling lives together.

  • A Jury of Her Peers, by Susan Glaspell

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    The central theme in “A Jury of Her Peers” is the place of women in society and especially the isolation this results in. We see this through the character, Minnie Foster and her isolation from love, happiness, companionship and from society as a whole. Not only does the story describe this isolation but it allows the reader to feel the impact of this isolation and recognize the tragedy of the situation. The story is set in a rural community in turn-of-the century Iowa. This time-frame is one where

  • a 1000 mile drive in the wrong direction

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    dark mood I was in, and there was a sliver lining of hope on the distant horizon. That light was Waldorf’s very own Pastor Char. I’m not going to lie to you (and I don’t think pastor Char will be opposed to me telling the truth) -I went to her in desperation. I don’t know what it is about the “pastor” title, but I guess you just assume that they will instantly make everything better. Alas my assumptions failed me, Pastor Char did not have an answer to all the problems consuming my life or magic prayer

  • Man and Nature in The Grapes of Wrath

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    Man and Nature in The Grapes of Wrath In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses both obvious references and subtle contrasts to emphasize the main theme of the novel: the sanctity of man's relationship to the natural world and to each other. Machines have no place in this relationship. They act as a barrier between men and the land. They are dangerous because they perform the function of men with greater efficiency, but they lack the spiritual element that makes the land so valuable

  • 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    route and soon discover water. Days later they find a well-like shaft through which they descend to twenty-one miles below the surface of the earth. Continuing to descend rapidly, Harry goes ahead of the others and soon finds himself alone. In desperation he retraces his steps but becomes hopelessly lost. It is only after much suffering four days later that Harry is reunited with his uncle. As Harry is recovering he hears the sound of waves and thinks he sees light. In act, the three have arrived

  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    is the liquor business that he will have, it is his life. When he finds he lost the money later in the novel, he says "...Man, I put my life in your hands..." ( ) All he ever dreamed of was the liquor business, when he lets out this statement of desperation, the reader really realizes how much all of it meant to him. Bennie's dreams are very different, she wants to be a female doctor. This dream was very unusual for a "colored" girl in the 50's. Her dream requires money from Mama, but so does Walter’s;

  • Essay on Flashbacks, Thrid Person Narration, and Harsh Language in Another Country

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    fallen from his position as a prominent jazz musician to the lowest of street bums. His hair is uncombed; his body is unclean. He has descended from a very public position to a place where he hides from family, friends and police. And finally, in desperation, this man sells his body to another man for food and drink. All this action takes place in two pages. It is at the bottom of the second page that Baldwin give... ... middle of paper ... ...the novel. Through harsh language Baldwin intensifies