The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Igby Goes Down by Burr Steers are both displayed as rites of passage texts. The respective protagonists of these two texts are Igby Slocumb and Holden Caulfield. These two characters are both a journey mofit, a journey of self discovery in which they both attempt to find the meaning in life and understand societies values and attitudes. The two protagonists demonstrate non-conformity and rebel against the apparent hypocrisy present in their respective societies.
Essay Question 1: Existentialism in No Exit In Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, Sartre masterfully combines an underlying theme of existentialist philosophy ironically in a scene portraying Hell. No Exit communicates existential philosophy by expressing that requiring outside approval is a failing in human nature, that one must take absolute responsibility for one’s actions, and that God does not exist. Existentialism states that humans have the ability to choose and define their own individualities or characteristics, also known as one’s essence. However, this freedom brings with it the absolute responsibility for one's actions. The overwhelming significance of this complete responsibility causes fear and anxiety in many people.
Just as the narration is set free and unleashed into a world of fantasy, the reader is held captive in a place that they cannot determine as absolutely real or absolutely fantastical. In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the reader is held captive by the narrative of a woman with a worsening nervous condition, left with no way out of her increasingly demented view of reality. There are words that the narrator uses to convey to the reader, and really, to herself, that what she is describing and the way the she is describing it is metaphorical and not true in a tangible or logical sense. She states, “John is a physician, and perhaps - (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) - perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster.” The word “perhaps”, along with other words of the like, are used in the beginning of the piece to lend a sense of reality to what the narrator is saying. These words also do the task of presenting the narrator’s nervous condition in its earlier stages, when she is wary of her husband
To say that the intricacies that lay in the nature of life, aging and romance are just that – the unreachable, incomprehensible condition of human existence – would be a discomfiting conclusion to the true essence of this story. In my opinion, the intricacies within the nature of life, aging and romance are untethered and unwound by the simple realities mirrored in this tale, brought across only by the persona projected by its author. The profundity of this persona lies within the utter distance between the character himself and the yearning he doesn’t know he feels. He is portrayed as what I, the reader, can only perceive as irreparably lonely. His wondering in the dark translates to a deeper sense of being lost, unknowing of what is missing, of what hole needs to be filled.
Mary’s attitude, driven by fear of judgement and persecution, ultimately define her as a character, giving nobody ‘cause to dislike her’. The simple observation that Mary would not wear certain clothes based on how she believed people would perceive her makes clear Wolff’s view that portions of Mary’s life has become directed by social pressure and judgement, causing the audience sympathise with her due to her inability to be independent. This sympathy comes from the fact that due to this life constructed by fear Mary believes that she is ‘dying faster than
“A sad sympathy filled her eyes. Sharada lowered her knife”. Her personality appears to take a radical turn, though it is not documented through a conversation. Due to the fact that the authentic character of Sharada is exposed mainly through her psychological and inner expansion, leaving the audience to fill in several facets of the story in its maturation, this story can not only be placed under the Poe genre of short stories but it can also be set in the category of the “ideal short story” stories within the Poe
For the first time in the story when Jude came to demand more jewels from Isobel, she denies him and says “…stop calling me Precious; my name is Isobel!” (P. 72). Finally, being able to recognize the beauty of her own name, she no longer felt a prisoner of Jude’s desire for sex and wealth. She finally sees the true preciousness of herself, her words! Isobel’s journey led her to finding the ability and the courage that she needed in order to express her true feelings. She became capable of confronting Jude by making him aware that he never loved her.
Faulkner occupies the use not just only multiple narrators, but also the perplexity of stream-of- consciousness to intensify the failure to differentiate between reality and understanding. This use of a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events lets the commentary to be revealed as if were actually reading what they’re thinking. Thoughts arise with no jurisdiction and as such allow the mark of directness. Also, since As I Lay Dying is developed from the characters emotions rather than conversation between characters, the first feeling is to naturally consider since peoples thoughts are mostly unrefined. The use of stream-of-consciousness also serves to conceal the way to finding the ideal
Examples like Hester’s alienation during the scaffold scene, Pearl being shunned by children, and Dimmesdale’s isolation caused by his thoughts and intentions contributed to the novel’s prestige and grandeur. A great story with such emotional significance like this one with always be treasured. Isolation is not only experienced in this tale; it is experienced by everyone in everyday life. the evil of isolation can be a physically, morally, and socially tortuous event in Devoid of any social contact, save that of her daughter, Hester must endure of lonely existence. "In all her intercourse with society, save that of her daughter, there was nothing that made [Hester] feel as if she belonged
Ophelia as a character is extremely intriguing in her ambiguity. For an audience she presents a conundrum of whether or not we should empathise with, or despise her. As Helena Faucit Martin says that Ophelia is “greatly misunderstood”, this could be seen as true, due to her feelings and emotions have been cut-off from the world and that she cannot show any emotions, as she is stuck in a patriarchal world, which would makes some of the audience empathise with her. As Anna Brownell Murphy Jameson describes her as a “a strain of sad, sweet music, which comes floating by us on the wings of silence and night”, she can be seen as this because she sways the audience with her emotions and suicide, but at times this could be seen as quite wrong, as we the audience dislike her passivity, because she portrays women as too weak and passive. Her character presents an interesting challenge for an actor to play this character.