Within a story, animals are often portrayed as weak and helpless, unable to move beyond the control of their human masters. Other times, they serve as strong and hostile creatures. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, however, uses animals to represent unique concepts: dreams, innocence and loneliness. Despite their innocent natures, all of the animals are met with death, creating loneliness for those around them. Animals play an important role in much of the symbolism found within the novel.
Animals and plants make the visit to the city very difficult. Page 96 describes one of the many encounters Phoenix has with nature. While walking on the path to the town her dress gets stuck in a “thorny bush,” and since Phoenix is going into town she has her nicest clothing on. After struggling for a few minutes she finally is able to break free without a scratch on her or her outfit. Plants are not her only problem; “A black dog with a lolling tongue came up out of
For instance she moves like the “pendulum in a grandfather clock,” which steadily marks time alone. The beginning of the story simply explains the loneliness of Phoenix in many ways. Phoenix herself says that she is walking in the sleep of the abandoned cabins and trees with dead leaves. This path that she walked through to get to her grandson was cold, deadly, and lonely. She probably wouldn’t even take a path like this one if it wasn’t for her grandson she loved so
Through animal imagery, the big picture of the horrid lifestyle of a slave during 19th century can be seen. Not only do animals and silent women describe the people of the 19th century, but they also describe the idea of realism and naturalism. All of the slaves in the book do not know enough to do anything about their future because they are kept ignorant by the slave owners. The description of the ignorant slaves gives the reader a sense naturalism. Douglass also gives an example of naturalism while explaining how he felt about his mother dying.
Curley's Wife, Innocent or Not? Of Mice and Men is not a novel that portrays women considerately, examples of this are shown throughout the novel, in particular Curley's wife, who walks the ranch as a temptress and as a result is treated with scorn throughout the course of the novel, resulting in her death. This essay will analyze and discuss Steinbeck's portrayal of Curley's wife. Whether or not she is ultimately an innocent person caught in a tragic situation or simply a malevolent person who brings about her own inevitable doom. Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife at the beginning of the novel as a tramp, a tart that threatens to destroy any male on the ranch.
During Phoenix journey she traveled alone through the dark pinewood shadows and she talks aimlessly amongst herself. She constantly looked up into the skies as if she was asking for slight request in a prayer form. There were also a few idioms placed with in the short story for example, “a yellow burning under the dark, keep out from under these feet and an odor like copper” (Welty 2-3). There are quite a few ways you may perceive this story; I felt that the writer was stereotyping black women of the past when I first read the story. From the way the story was written it talked about black women’s hairstyle, clothes they wore, lack of education, and the certain usage of words.
Chopin seems to use many different themes and symbols throughout the story to portray Edna’s character and way of life that causes the many problems and difficulties for her. Throughout the 19th century the literary technique of realism was widely used throughout many works of writing and especially throughout this novel. Realism is a technique that focuses on aspects of the characters life in a common view, meaning that the writing is focused on a particular setting or depiction of a certain plot within the norms of society. Chopin does an excellent job of using her writing to get the reader involved in the characters life and the feelings of the character at any given point throughout the story. Although realism seems to be most common throughout the story there is also a touch of naturalism throughout select passages.
Diane Glancy’s Polar Breath explores the lonely death of the central character. Unnamed and unaccompanied except by spirits and memories of her dead husband, the protagonist is dragged into the beyond. Glancy’s depiction of nature as harsh and unrelenting, and her use of vivid imagery create a claustrophobic setting that does not relax until it has “closed [the protagonist] up.” Glancy’s depiction of nature throughout the story suggests it is at odds with and exclusive from the unnamed protagonist. The anonymity of the main character further highlights her meaninglessness in the face of the power of the environment. “The birds chattered in the fir trees”, highlights an energy and life that is not accessible to the story’s character.
A sense of being that will draw the reader or listener in, as if they themselves were in the story, helping them to feel the surroundings of the character within the pages of the book. And having an imagistic style in the way you write it a very helpful tool. An example of this tool being used is in the novel The Great Gatsby. The Author: Francis Scott Fitzgerald exerts his strength for imagination, with contrasting moods and bubbling atmosphere, and in the end creates a resplendent tale. His story is about a misunderstood man who truly craves a fulfilled life.
Crossing Over By Catherine Storr Crossing over by Catherine Storr is about a timid young girl who volunteers to give up some of her spare time towards helping old people, 'most of the tasks on offer had sounded dreary.' However there was one job that the girl was interested in, 'walking old Mrs Mathews Dog that had seemed like something she might enjoy'. One terrible and drizzling day the girl took Togo (the dog) for a walk. They waiting for the oncoming traffic to calm down, but Togo pulled the girl onto the road and she tragically died . The title 'Crossing Over' has a literal meaning of crossing the road and the other is crossing from life into death we sometimes use this phrase as a euphemism instead of saying someone was dead.