“Gothic literature is concerned with the breaking of social and moral codes” – to what extent do you agree with this criticism of gothic writing? Gothic literature often encompasses a large amount of taboos and transgressions that continue to populate the genre today, in which the breaking of social and moral codes is still a popular element that is continually explored. However, critiques often focus upon the driving force behind this exploration within the genre and its effectiveness where moral and social codes remain largely culturally relative and the line between normal and abnormal is unclear. This ambiguity continues to puzzle both readers and critics alike in a fashion that only breeds curiosity and fascination within society of what social and moral codes are available to be broken, particularly within literature. In many ways, the character of Heathcliff within Wuthering Heights may be seen as a complete antithesis to the conventions of society; the name “Heathcliff” acts as both his Christian name and surname in contrast to the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights with many names shared across the generations.
“The Lottery”. I was very interested in the Shirley Jackson’s short story named “The Lottery” due to its controversial thematic. The author makes a heavy criticism of old traditions blind followed that sometimes people do just because they were told to, by their ancestors. Since the story was presented and, even more, after watching the film about it, I kept thinking regarding the reasons for doing things in life. As I’ve always been a rebel, I was captivated by this story, and in certain way I felt identified with the author because she presents the whole situation as if it was anything normal and quotidian when it is really a deep drama.
The theory about the story “Where Are You Going,, Where Have You Been?” that I agree most with is the one by Joyce M. Wegs: “Arnold is clearly a symbolic Satan.” Upon further examination of Wegs’ explanation to her theory, as well as the knowledge that I have of the story from reading it and the type of character that Arnold is, I find Wegs’ theory the most intriguing. She gives valid points that support her theory accordingly and that I find easiest to agree with. In her explanation of her theory, Wegs gives some very good supporting details from the story. She says that Satan is usually disguised as a normal human, but “the distortions in his appearance and behavior suggest not only that his identity is faked but also hint at his real self…” She is comparing Arnold’s character to Satan by saying that Arnold comes across at times as a harmless man with good intentions, but the way he behaves distorts the idea of him actually being a harmless man with good intentions. One may argue that throughout the story, Arnold did not raise his voice to Connie or overreact about anything; however, he still had bad intentions of doing things to Connie that were highly inappropriate and harmful to Connie.
As I tried to figure out what have I read I found several interpretation of this work but they did not fit to my conceptions or to say my ideas. Many scholars wrote several critical essays and resource papers on this story and of course they focused on several different things but rewriting history. According to Christopher James – who won the national poetry competition in 2009 – this novel is: “Essentially it’s Robinson Crusoe meets Bear Grylls meets Life of Pi set in the 1940s and in the bleakest possible surroundings.”(James). That is one side of this multi shaped coin. After this I searched further interpretation of the text and I found Howard Babb’s words who said that many critics found this novel Golding’s most challenging book (Babb 65).
Split Desicion The point of my paper is to discuss some secrets and hidden truths about the novella "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" mainly in the characters and how they can compare and contrast to each other. The story it self has had a major impact on our society as a whole, everyone has some sort of basic knowledge of the story whether it be as simple as knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same person, or even having a expaned knowledge of the whole case. Either way the story is a very dark and mysterious, that holds certain secrets unknown by many. First I will discuss the Victorian society (the stories setting) and how the people of this time held them selves to a very high reputation and wanted lots of privacy to cover up there own personal flaws. Then I will discuss the characters Utterson, Enfield followed by Jekyll and Hyde, in extreme detail and how they abide by these same principles.
Of these existential novels, one of the most influential would be that of Albert Camus, The Stranger. It is within the covers of this book that the protagonist, Meursault, depicts his own existential philosophy by questioning not only his own personal existence, but also that of a higher being, as well as showing a disdain for anything worldly or superficial. As previously stated, questioning one's own existence is a phenomena observed by most existentialists, that's to say, believers in the existential ideology. Meursault undergoes this thought process throughout the novel, constantly questioning his purpose in the grand scheme of things. One such instance, wherein Meursault displays his existential thoughts arises when his boss asks if Meursault would mind taking a job in Paris.
(Jeffries) In response to all these tangible and emotional losses, criticism to religion and Islam in particular crop up in his writing quite often, including his latest fairy tale novel Luka and the Fire of Life which was written for his adolescent son Milan and as a sequel or companion book to Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Salman Rushdie conveys anti religious sentiments in general and Anti Islamic sentiments in particular in his novel Luka and the Fire of Life through clever use of words and phrases. He decides to call the most notorious villains of his novel the ‘Aalim’, he declares that Gods have no power of their own and are
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Paper The Romantic, Realistic/Naturalistic, and Transcendental movements have had major influence on the works of some writers because of their beliefs in the goodness of both man and nature and how organized religion and political parties ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual. Amongst many of the writers whose artworks were influenced by these movements was Mark Twain. In his novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” the ideas and beliefs of these movements were put into play throughout the novel; especially through the characters. The most obvious example of Romanticism in the novel was Tom Sawyer. This character bases most of his life and actions on adventure novels.
The Bible gets the blame for a lot of things but especially for outright rejection of homosexuals. Genesis, Leviticus, and Romans tend to be the books most referenced by those arguing the sin of "sodomy". Another reason for Christian rejection of homosexuality is that it is unnatural. Once again the Bible tends to be the basis for this conclusion, although for different reasons. Any sex act that cannot achieve procreation is
Through the minds of Palahniuk and Stevenson a common ground is reached in the two books Fight Club and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; both the narrator and Dr. Jekyll create their own misfortune in trying to fix the problems of the world, or better yet what they perceive the problems to be. In a sense the doppelganger of Dr. Jekyll and The Narrator create a misery that is eerie. These characters could be considered Byronic heroes; they start off admirable individuals but by the end of their journey we pity them. Another observation than can be made is through the birth of their alter egos Dr. Jekyll is in essence attempting to play God, and Tyler Durden (The Narrator’s doppelganger) believes he is God. The consequences of their decisions lead them to, ceaseless misery,