Regenerating World Essay

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REGENERATING WORLD Two different literary works, “No Country For Old Men” and “Sailing to Byzantium” both tell a story of characters who don’t feel that they belong to the world they live in because of their ages. Therefore it is no surprise to see that the title of the novel is taken from the first line of the poem. The protagonist of the novel, Sheriff Bell believes that he is no longer part of the place that he used be. By drawing a parallel, the poem “Sailing to Byzantium” describes the thoughts of a man who struggles to fit into the world, therefore searches for an ideal place. The poet of “Sailing to Byzantium” tries to escape from the place in which he feels useless. “An aged man is but a paltry thing- A tattered coat upon a stick…”(Yeast, lines 9-10). Since he is an aged man, he does not belong with the current world and comes to “the holy city of Byzantium”. Similarly, another quote from the first stanza shows that the current world is much more suitable for young people than it is for old ones: “The young- In one another’s arm, birds in the trees…” (Yeasti lines 2-3). In these lines, the description of the world as young, viable and lovely contrasts with the idea of being old. Therefore the narrator of the poem feels that he does not fit into the world that is full with life and youth, so he goes on his journey to the city of Byzantium that symbolizes a place where old things are valued and protected. Likewise the protagonist of the novel, Bell, finds it very hard to adapt to the current world as he states his opinion about coping with the regenerating world: “It keeps getting harder.”(McCarthy, page 40). Bell thinks that conditions are not the same as the ones when he was young. By saying, “Time is not on your side” he emphasizes that as the time passes, everything becomes unusual for him. “The peace officers along this border getting rich off

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