It clouds Mersault’s judgment and causes him to take actions that normally he would not consider acting. This lack of control for his actions leads him to commit a serious crime which causes his own death. The sun somewhat represents the constraints society has placed upon Mersault. The sun’s mystical effect on Mersault, which eventually leads to his death, is parallel to the societal effect on Mersault which condemns him to his death. During the sequences leading up to the murder of the Arab, the sun is the driving force of Mersault’s actions.
Fear is created from the beginning of the poem when we read that: “a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect The Empire State Building” The word “skirting” is used to create a mood of caution and unease from the start. This unease and caution is reinforced later in the poem when we are told that: “now midnight has come in” The use of the word “midnight” is used to refer to the “evil” in the city and the personification is used to make the reader feel as though “midnight” has a mind of its own, making it unpredictable, emphasising the sense of fear and unease. Later in the poem we are made to feel that New York is a “frontier” city when the poet describes: “darkness is shot at by a million lit windows” Light and dark is used to symbolise good and evil, it is as though the “dakness” is being “shot” at, this also create a mood of fear. MacCaig also forms an atmosphere of fear by using sound devices. This mood is created by this technique when the “Empire State Building” is first described as a “dentist’s drill” The harsh sound which comes from the onomatopoeia, “drill” forms a sense of fear and caution.
The significance of the sun is extremely prominent throughout Part II and the rest of the poem; symbolising God and his wrath depicted by capitalising the word as “Sun” rather than “sun” much like “God” which implicates that the sun is used as a metaphor for God throughout the poem. The sun is used also as a symbol of bad tidings, bringing forth suffering and ultimate death for the Mariner and his shipmates. “All in a hot and copper sky. The bloody Sun, at noon...” this conveys the sheer heat of the Sun and suffering of the
In Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, he focuses on the conflicting views of society and nature in the Puritan society and uses contrast, symbolism, and imagery to convey his beliefs. From the beginning of the novel, color was used symbolically, representing everything from life to death; punishment to freedom. The color red was used throughout the novel, most notably as the scarlet letter. A letter “A” was forced upon Hester’s chest by the Puritan society as punishment for her sin of adultery in the beginning of the novel, with gold lining surrounding a vibrant, red cloth. It felt to Hester as though the red cloth emanated a “burning heat; and as if the letter were not of red cloth, but red-hot iron” (30).
Browning uses the title to set the scene for the story as “The Laboratory” is a place where scientific experiments take place but oddly in the poem it’s a place the narrator (a woman) uses the tell her feelings and plot revenge. The poem is set around the time before the French revolution which is indicated from the subtitle, “ancient regime” which was at a time of internal conflicts and civil wars’ showing it was at a violent time which could be linked to why the narrator took such drastic measures. The poem is set mainly around the place in which the apothecary man is working, where he is making the poison that will be used to kill the narrator’s enemy. The narrator is close by the apothecary man, whilst he is making the poison as she watches it, “curling whitely”, showing she wants to be involved in the preparations and see it come together This reveals a more sinister aspect behind her actions. The narrator seems to be the only voice in the text but the poem was supposed to be a conversation yet she dominates the conversation not allowing the other character present (apothecary man) to respond or get his opinion on her situation.
In ‘In Cold Blood’ Truman Capote questions whether Perry was born ‘bad’ or is a victim of circumstances. Discuss this proposition in relation to ‘In Cold Blood’. In ‘In Cold Blood’ Truman Capote portrays Perry Smith as an individual who has been born into an unfortunate life and has highlighted that Perry is a victim of his upbringing and surroundings. Perry’s ominous circumstances frame the person he was, and more specifically the criminal that he was to become. Throughout the non-fiction novel, Capote displays the events of Perry’s life which opens up readers to the idea of sympathising with a murderer.
Jane Yolen's novel, 'Briar Rose' explores war and persecution as one of the main ideas of the text. The Holocaust and the events of World War II are major themes in this novel. The text seeks to educate readers about the terrible events that occurred in Europe during the war and about the persecution and mass murder that was instigated (bring about) by the Nazi rule. As Gemma was Jewish, the treatment of the Jewish people is highlighted. The Jewish religion is celebrated and explored in the first few chapters as the rituals surrounding Gemma's death are woven (knitted - put together) into Becca's story.
In Joan Didion’s essay, “Los Angeles Notebook”, she employs eerie to pedantic diction, ominous imagery, and selection of detail to portray the negative effect that the Santa Ana winds have on the people to describing why it happens, in order to convey her idea of humans being mechanistic, controlled by nature and our instincts. Throughout the essay, Didion uses unnerving to pedantic diction to describe the Santa Ana winds and their effects, in order to reveal her thought on human’s mechanistic nature. The “uneasy” air, “waning” arguments, and “screaming” peacocks, portray a very negative effect that the Santa Ana winds have on the people in Los Angeles, describing the way nature controls people and their actions. Didion also describes the wind “whining” and “blowing”, “drying the hills and the nerves to the flash point”. This creates the very unnatural, eerie feeling that the winds instill in people.
Murdering for Love Love can be described as many things. In both “Killings” by Andre Dubus and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, murders take place. The character Matt from “Killings” and Emily from “A Rose for Emily” end up murdering people out of love. Ironically, both of these stories start off at a funeral and are out of order. In a “Rose for Emily” the story starts off with her death then goes backwards to tell about her life history.
In this given excerpt from the essay “Los Angeles Notebook”, the author Joan Didion describes the mood in a community expecting the Santa Ana winds. Didion uses a tone of bitterness to portray the community’s reaction to an inevitable event that they cannot control. The imagery describes the Santa Ana winds as a supernatural phenomenon, and the uncertainty associated with the occurrence of the event is enough to put people in a state of anxiety and paranoia. Joan Didion juxtaposes the insanity of the Santa Ana winds with the instability of human nature in response to fear. Didion provides an imitation of human behavior during a state of panic by using the Santa Ana winds as a symbol for the general fear or worry that leads humans to act aberrantly.