Free Essays - Chronicle of a Death Foretold

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The Understanding of Characters Through Relationships

Relationships create strong holds in novels. They give a sense of what to base a character's acts and decision's on. Through how the author uses their tone and descriptions, relating to relationships, a sense of characterization can be developed. "Anna Karenina", by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Joel Carmichael, and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, translated by Gregory Rabassa, are no exception to this clause. Relationships form throughout these novels, by incorporating literary elements like characterization romanticism and realism, giving characters a sense of who they are, and the reader a sense of their role and reference to the story.
In "Anna Karenina", relationships are built throughout the story helping for the reader to understand characters and who they are.
One of the two major relationships taking place in the novel is between Anna Karenina and Levin. Anna Karenina, arguably the most important character to the novel, gets many of her key traits brought forth by relationship problems. Anna's search through her quest for love is purely emotional, and at the end of her character's life Anna's reason fails her. She has too much feeling and emotion, a trait shared by many of Tolstoy's characters. Her feeling from her relationship tend to overpower her thoughts and opinions, giving the novel a sense of romanticism. She becomes disgruntle. In the end, Anna can't hold her own wits. Tolstoy uses characterization to present Anna, through the relationships she has it can be understood her attitude and personal qualities.
Levin, one of the main partners in a relationship with Anna, is the hero of Anna Karenina. Through Tolstoy's tone and description in the interaction between Anna and Levin it is almost gathered that Levin was created to merely point out his superiority, and his relationships with Anna does directly that. Where Anna continually maneuvers hysterically to achieve the perfect romance, Levin strives to find coherence in life and death, love and work. This can be discovered through the characterization directed towards Levin. Anna becomes a portrait of alienation through this relationship. Levin finds harmony with those around him. In Anna, you find a moral collapse, while in Levin, you see Tolstoy's hopes and joys of his future. Anna and Levin show a variation of character traits brought forth from their relationship.
The second great relationship taking place forms between Vronsky and Kitty.

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