“Stevens’ fervent belief in the importance of dignity prevents him from experiencing a full and satisfying life.” How important is the theme of dignity to the novels of Kazuo Ishiguro? In Remains of the day there is a reoccurring theme of dignity and it become obvious to the reader that this over welling need to be proud stifles the characters personality but also their life. The question of dignity arrises throughout the two generations in the book; Stevens and his father, this indicates how the repercussions of Mr. William Stevens obsessive nature affects his son, but dignity is also found in the form of proper gentlemen, as well as butlers who allow nothing to distract or faze them from doing their duty. Dignity is described as: ‘the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect’, the desire to posses this ‘honourably’ reputation becomes evident when Stevens starts to describe a ‘great butler’. He claims that ‘They wear their professionalism as a decent gentleman will wear his suit’ this analogy proves that Stevens’ role as a butler means much more to him than a mere occupation.
Aristotle once said, “The impulse to form partnership of this kind is present in all men by nature.” Knowledge of one’s identity through knowledge of where one belongs can give meaning to life and bring about happiness, while exclusion can trigger a sense of unworthiness, even inferiority, and alienation as shown through the poetry of Peter Skryznecki and the film ‘Into the Wild’ We chose the poems of Peter Skrzynecki as our prescribed text and there is a greater sense of not belonging and alienation in every poem than belonging and acceptance. It is almost that he wants us to feel sympathy and condolence for him in his poems. Poems such as ‘Migrant Hostel, Ancestors and Feliks Skryznecki’ convey his message of being estranged and isolated from his identity of the polish culture and his uncertain future. To convey these views Skrzynecki uses a variety of techniques, the main ones being: metaphors, similes, personification, rhetorical questions and the use of tone. The poem Migrant hostel (Parkes 1949-1951) carries authencity and themes of difficulties assimilating into a new culture, feelings of uncertainty and insecurity and therefore issues surrounding identity, or the lack OF identity.
Rudyard Kipling Jack Ellington “Rudyard Kipling was the most beloved writer of his time, and his most famous work was the poem ‘If” (Fernando 60). Kipling was a powerful, creative poet whose ideas ran off of pure intuition and the belief that imagination should be held at a higher regard than knowledge of reason. Kipling used imagery in ‘If’ to provide readers with pictures of familiar scenes that are relatable, such as the obstacles in the climb to manhood, the difficulty of finding balance in life, or the sadness involved watching a lifelong dream slowly slip away from one. The way Kipling uses imagery puts the reader in the poem and affects the tone he puts forth. Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30th, 1865 in Bombay, British India.
Sanity over Passion. What one says, thinks, or hears bears no significance if it is not delivered nor received properly. Ideas are given meaning by how carefully their words are crafted together to leave the most lasting impact; it is their rhetoric that persuades an audience to believe that what they are hearing is significant. The story within Into the Wild is one that is significant because of how effectively Jon Krakauer took Chris McCandless’s adventures and relationships and made them relate to the reader. Krakauer used many rhetorical strategies to create appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos in order to develop the ideas and themes found in his novel.
How do ‘Follower’ and ‘Once upon a time’ show father and son relationship? ‘Follower’, written in 1966 by Seamus Heaney and ‘Once upon a time’, written by Gabriel Okara both explore the issue of a relationship between father and son. However, they express this in different situations and forms. ‘Follower’ expresses the relationship with father and son with the son being admired by his father and wanting to be just like him which suddenly contrasts at the end of the poem. ‘Once upon a time’ expresses the relationship between each other as if it was some form of fairy tale story.
This indicates that he lacks the love from his real father. The boy tries to live up to his fathers expectations, and has a strong bond to his father. Loyalty and being true to your closest is also an important element of the boys behaviour, he protects his father no matter what, and that is a crucial part of the boy´s mental state in this short story. The boy is naive and has high thoughts of his father, these thoughts are shown through the boys’ actions and delighted comments. The boy protects his father when his mother speaks badly of him.
The father is all about his son, probably the best a father could be to protect his son. His stand- point on God is he wants his son to have something to believe in when he is gone. He tries to convince the child, and possibly himself that God is still an active cause to believe in, “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God” (77). Here and there he will make small references for the kid even though his belief is cloudy.
Discuss the theme of family, as presented by Heaney in ‘Digging’ and ‘Follower’. The poems Digging and Follower by Seamus Heaney both are powerful expressions of the poet's admiration and respect for his father. Heaney strongly stresses his relationship with his father by creating a forceful comparison between himself and his dad and by doing so raises another important issue that is present throughout both poems, the significance of change. However, despite the depiction of the father in both poems seems quite similar at first glance, it later is evident that there are nevertheless certain differences between the two images created. Follower and Digging both give a clear account of Heaney's feelings towards his father with particular emphasis on the poet's response to the physical labour of his father.
The Al-Chemist Author : “Paulo Coelho” The Al-Chemist is a lovely novel, tender but profound. It is about the importance of seeking one’s own meaning of life and spending one’s life fulfilling it. Coelho calls it seeking one’s “Personal Legend.” It reminds me very much of what the Existentialists would have called “authenticity.” However, unlike the Existentialists who write rather darkly about this process of seeking one’s own meaning system, Coelho’s young shepherd boy is seeking his Personal Legend in something much like a fairly tale. However, Coelho at least gives us a process and set of obstacles we might well expect, and his hero fulfills all four: First one must discover that our lives are dictated by custom, family, law and tradition and we must be willing to overcome these in order to seek our own unique Personal Legend. If we get to this first stage we may well run up against love as an obstacle, particularly in believing that in order to have the love of some other we must give up our own Personal Legend and live in a way that the other needs for us.
Among the countless works of literature, the Bible holds stories that have helped shape and influence society. Genesis tells about man’s development through learning to cope with everyday struggles. The story of Esau and Jacob shows how one brother deceives his sibling and father for personal gain. While Isaac becomes old and blind, his sons Jacob and Esau battle for their father’s blessing before his death. The text reveals that an individual must not sacrifice his or her integrity in the pursuit of power.