The beginning of Clueless shows Cher as a rich, spoilt, overindulged and superficial teenage girl. Josh being the parallel of Mr Knightly acts as a voice of reason when he accuses Cher for being self “if I ever saw you do anything that wasn’t 90% selfish, I’d die of shock!” Cher only starts to realise her own faults when she fails her driving test which acts as a metaphor for the lack of control she has over her life. This incident acts as a catalyst towards Cher’s journey to self actualisation. The song ‘All by myself’ is used as non-diegetic sound as Cher symbolically experiences her downfall as she is seen walking downs steps. Cher’s voice over then tells the audience “everything I think and everything I do is wrong, it all boils down to one inevitable conclusion, I’m totally clueless.” This growing recognition forces Cher to see her world is superficial and based on false perceptions.
She was the one good thing that came out of Hester’s sinful act. Pearl loved her mother deeply and accepted everything about her; even the scarlet letter affixed on her bosom. She wanted to be just like her mother which came out one day while playing on the beach. “as the last touch to her mermaid’s garb, Pearl took some eel-grass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter – the letter A – but freshly green, instead of scarlet!”(pg.
The sunshine separates Pearl from all distractions by fleeing with her away from society’s chaos, which pulls her away from her mother’s bosom, creating a balance of freedom. The disorder of society forces the sunshine to pull innocent Pearl away from the chaos confining her in negativity. The general public criticizes Pearl for her sinful nature of where she was created. For example, during a conversation at Governor Bellingham’s house, he argues, “without question, she is equally in the dark as to her soul, its present depravity, and future destiny! Methinks, gentlemen, we need inquire no further” (103).
Thus, Pearl’s existence gives her mother reason to live, bolstering her spirits when she is tempted to give up; acting as a hero who constantly saves her mother from the tortures of Puritan society. However, Pearl also acts as a constant remaindered to her mother of her inescapable sin, and therefore can also be seen as a non-heroic character. Throughout the novel Pearl constantly defends her mother when people of their community are threatening her. When Hester and Pearl are attacked by a group of children, who try to fling mud at them Pearl becomes angry. She frightens the children off and she throws rocks at them.
Which is not an excuse at all, but now it makes more sense why she gets into trouble connected with witchcraft and involves the girls in it. The further we read the play, the more we get to know Abigail's personality. She accuses everybody, but not herself. The only thought on her mind is how to get Proctor's love. She does not feel sorry for anybody.
When Dimmesdale and Hester plot their plan to escape one can infer here that this is actually showing the more soft side of Dimmesdale and support his actions, although it is Pearl that proves this statement wrong. She starts to have, “this wild outbreak with piercing shrieks, which the woods reverberated on all sides; so that, alone as she was in her childish and unreasonable wrath, it seemed as if a hidden multitude were lending her their sympathy and encouragement” (219). Her actions are symbolic to show that she had seen the truth to Dimmesdale and didn’t accept their plan nor was she happy with Dimmesdale. This once again shows how the character Dimmesdale develops is much different from what the author suggests at the beginning. Another example is when Dimmesdale is returning home.
Discuss and analyse minor characters in ‘’A&P’’ and explain how they influence the reader’s perception of the main character. Thesis: In the short story ‘’A&P’’, Updike uses minor characters in order to shape the reader’s perception of the protagonist. Queenie: represents precocity and innocence, testing the boundaries of allowable behavior without fully grasping the implication of her actions until she is confronted and embrarrased by Lengel. → the leader of her group of friends, and she has clearly induced the other two girls into walking into the A&P wearing only their bathing suits. While the other girls seem awkward and , Queenie is unafraid by the disapproving glances of the other shoppers and the eager gazes of the male employees.
Coming to the end of the story, Sammy had become completely infatuated with Queenie. She was placed on a pedestal in Sammy’s mind. Irony becomes apparent in Sammy’s act to stand up for the girls when manager, Lengel reprimands them for their inappropriate attire, “The girls, and who'd blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say "I quit" to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.”
After Governor Danforth asked Rebecca if she would confess herself to witchcraft, she replied, “Why it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot.” (140) Her honesty sends her to certain death, but also to the kingdom of Heaven. Rebecca sees that life on Earth is temporary, while life after death is never ending. When she says, “Let you fear nothing! Another judgment waits us all!” (144) it is clear that she is confident, that she is making the right decision by telling the truth.
These are innocent people who are being hung because they won’t confess to witchcraft, something they really didn’t do. As these innocent people are being pushed off, the look in Abigail’s face is very disturbing. It is almost a look of satisfaction. One can really see how evil Abigail is becoming; it also becomes very obvious at this point that Abigail is the antagonist of the play. She knows that these people are being hung on her part, yet the look on her face shows no remorse or guilt but rather satisfaction.