Harry Mulisch Essays

  • The Assault by Harry Mulisch

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault, the author not only informs society of the variance in perception of good and evil, but also provides evidence on how important it is for an innocent person experiencing guilt to come to terms with their personal past. First, Mulisch uses the characters Takes, Coster, and Ploeg to express the differences in perspective on the night of the assault. Then he uses Anton to express how one cannot hide from the past because of their guilt. Both of these lessons are

  • Symbolism and the Concious and Uncounsius Mind in The Assault by Harry Mulisch

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    understanding and impression of a work. In his novel The Assault, a novel about the consequences of a particular dramatic event that occurred during World War II where the main character’s house was incinerated and all of his close family killed, Harry Mulish takes advantage of this fact by his masterful use of light imagery in many forms, especially that of cigarettes to add selective emphasis to the many philosophical points discussed through the novel, as well as its antithesis, darkness, to help

  • The Role of Foreshadowing in the Prologue of Harry Mulisch's The Assault

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    are prevalent throughout the narrative. A high-quality example of a prose with a prologue that is riddled with underlying foreshadowing is The Assault, by Harry Mulisch. By analyzing a single passage of the prologue and comparing it with other small potions of the text, the foretelling of events in the prologue of The Assault by Harry Mulisch can easily be related to how Anton believed the killing of his family was a simple affair, when in reality, it was a more complicated incident than Anton could

  • Motifs of Light and Dark

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harry Mulisch, through his novel The Assault, conveys the Nazi Occupation in the Netherlands in 1945 giving full emphasis on the impact to people’s lives. Anton Steinwijk, the protagonist of the novel, experiences traumatic experience when the military assaulted and killed his whole family. His wish to leave what has happened to him in the past is influenced largely by his devastation and undesirable perception of the war from what he has experienced. Additionally, people around Anton also encourage

  • The Assault By Harry Mulisch Analysis

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tragedy impacts each human being differently. Some are able to forgive and forget, some become angry and seek vengeance of some sort, while others bury those feelings deep within themselves and become apathetic. In The Assault by Harry Mulisch uses careful diction, apprehensive tone, striking oxymoron, and dark irony to show that while many may have been involved in the same tragedy, their roles in the tragedy and how they handle grief from it create a different outcome for each. Anton was a child

  • The Character Of Memory In Harry Mulisch's The Assault

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harry Mulisch’s, The assault, follows the life of a young boy, Anton, as he grows older trying to recall what happened one tragic night. Anton Steenwijk, a young boy growing up in occupied Haarlem Holland, is handed a unlucky card when his family is taken away from him. Fake Pleog, the Chief Police Inspector for town of Haarlem, whom is also on the Nazi’s side is shot outside their house in the night. Anton spends his whole life trying to figure out what happened that night. Harry Mulisch, the author

  • Theme Of Fate In The Assault By Harry Mulisch

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    everything that happens. In The Assault, Harry Mulisch uses symbolism, and the circular structure of symbols to show how Anton Steenwijk is confronted with the idea that there is no fate, and that his life was changed because of the actions of human beings. Mulisch uses the symbolism of dice to represent chance. On the night of the assault, Anton has dice in this pocket: “He noticed that he was still holding one of the dice in his hand and put it in his pocket” (Mulisch, 19). The dice symbolize the chance

  • The Outsider, by Albert Camus and The Assault, by Harry Mulisch

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    Camus and Mulisch present that the past and present are interrelated. The authors do this through the two characters, Meursault and Anton. Through Meursault, we see that his past actions affect the outcome of his trial. Through Anton, we see that his present situation constantly brings him back to his past despite him trying to escape it. Thus the authors stylistically link the past and present to demonstrate that they are inevitably related, where certain events are unavoidable or the past is undeniable

  • The Assault by Harry Mulisch, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and 1984 by George Orwell

    1550 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Assault by Harry Mulisch, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and 1984 by George Orwell In the three novels studied, The Assault by Harry Mulisch, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, and 1984 by George Orwell, the protagonists are controlled by outside influences that force them to confront their pasts and memories. However, each character handles their memories in juxtaposing ways. While all three characters experience epiphanies towards the end of the novels, both constructive

  • Fish by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fish by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen In Fish written by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen we find a woman who moved to Seattle from Southern California with her husband her two children. This woman Mary Jane Ramirez had everything going for her she was a happy person who had a happy life her family their relationship couldn't get any better. They both had good jobs, jobs that they enjoyed. Then one day, twelve months after they had moved to Seattle Dan her husband

  • Harry Elmer Barnes

    2754 Words  | 6 Pages

    In 1952, Harry Elmer Barnes wrote a timely article, "How 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' Trends Threaten American Peace, Freedom, and Prosperity" as the final chapter of the classic revisionist anthology, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. Barnes analyzed George Orwell's classic novel as a work of prophecy and sounded the alarm to reverse the "1984" trends prevalent in the America of his day. Barnes argued that propagandists and "court historians" were fashioning a present, based on a falsified and inaccurate

  • Hotspur vs. Harry in Henry IV

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hotspur vs. Harry in Henry IV At the beginning of the play it seems that the chief rebel, Hotspur, is in dispute with the King but as the play progresses we find that the main contest is between Hotspur and Hal, the King's son. At first thought, Hotspur seems to be the easy winner, for all Hal does is spend his time with his friends gallivanting around, stealing and drinking. Hotspur, on the other hand, has returned from a battle in which he defeated the Scots led by

  • Snow of Kilimanjaro

    3380 Words  | 7 Pages

    of Kilimanjaro”, the author Ernest Hemingway has basically two main characters, Harry and his wife, Helen. Throughout the story Harry has an infected leg, which seems to be seriously bothering him, it is actually rotting away. The author writes about Harry’s time on the mountain with his wife just waiting for his death. In his story, Ernest Hemingway shows a great deal reality and emotion through his main character Harry, in the books themes, and its symbols. The author’s story is about Harry’s spiritual

  • The Family Reunion

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Family Reunion T.S. Elliott's "The Family Reunion" is a play about the return to home, and the looking back at ghosts of the past.   The play starts with Harry returning to his boyhood home for his mother's birthday.  The plot centers around Harry's return, the mystery surrounding his wife's death, and his family's desire to have Harry take over the role as head of the household.  It's an anticipated return, one that they all have been waiting for.  There are concurrent plots threading through

  • Lacanian Psychoanalytic Criticism in Harry Potter

    4051 Words  | 9 Pages

    Lacanian Psychoanalytic Criticism in Harry Potter The inhabitants of a faraway country known for its ivory towers and for its export of literary monographs were forever quarreling over who might best represent them. One day two tiny factions decided to join forces: the adherents of the Princess Childlit and the followers of Prince Psychian, the great-great-grandson of Empress Psyche. Both groups had for a long time felt themselves unduly spurned… by the powerful Board of Canonizers who had

  • Harry Potter

    2583 Words  | 6 Pages

    Harry Potter A young, scrawny boy who wears horn-rimmed glasses and has a scar on his forehead has catapulted into the hearts of millions of readers, young and old alike. This same boy has generated nationwide controversy over censorship versus freedom of speech. In particular, the community of Zeeland, Michigan has banned reading aloud from Harry Potter and required written parental permission to check the book out from the school library. Although the Zeeland community as well as other segments

  • Harry Potter

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harry Potter ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, written by J.K. Rowling, is an excellent example of a modern novel that uses medieval influences extensively. Many of the novel’s characters are based on medieval ideas and superstitions. The settings in the book resemble old medieval towns as well as castles. The book is also full of medieval imagery such as knights in armour, carriages etc. Whilst there is no time travel involved in the novel, the medieval period is used to such an effect that

  • Harry Potter: Good or Evil?

    1477 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harry Potter: Good or Evil? Throughout adolescents, a child is taught to use his or her imagination. A child is read stories of a talking cat or a silly old bear while still young and naïve. The child is read such stories to encourage use of his or her creativity. The ideas of such characters are for pure amusement and are obviously fictional. Unfortunately, today there are issues of censorship that stifle a person’s creativity. The most recent book being criticized by censors is J.K. Rowling’s

  • Lord of the Rings: Two Towers vs. Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban Comparison

    2092 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lord of the Rings: Two Towers vs. Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban Comparison In the two novels, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling, there is a distinct relationship that is created through the idea that there are the chosen individuals are the only ones that can save the world. The first novel, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a novel generally focusing on uniting ¡§Middle Earth¡¨, a term used to describe the human world, to

  • J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter

    2465 Words  | 5 Pages

    J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Harry Potter is an orphaned boy whose parents were attacked and killed by the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. The boy survived the horrible slaying, which left him with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He lives with his disagreeable uncle and aunt and unpleasantly selfish cousin during summer months. The boy attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he learns about potions, flying on a broomstick, and fighting off the evil Lord Voldemort