...9 2012 Self-Discovery in ‘She’s Come Undone’ Self-discovery, by definition, is the act or process of achieving understanding or knowledge of oneself or, in other words, identifying your own individuality. To understand who you are is extremely important if one wants to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment. In reality, people struggle every day to uncover who they really are and for Ms. Price, this was no exception. Her life was not always stable which made her journey to discover herself extremely strenuous. Dolores Price, the main character in ‘She’s Come Undone’ by Wally Lamb, had many traumatic events that occurred during her life that persuaded her to discover who her inner self was as well as therapy and significant symbols that meant a lot to her through her journey. To begin with, Dolores Price had to overcome many traumatic and negative memorable events that life supplied her with. The thing that started it all was the miscarriage of her little brother Anthony and the separation of her mother and father. She, like a normal child caught in the middle of their parent’s separation, feels like the separation was her fault and that she could have prevented it. Another scarring event that she was forced to endure was being raped by her neighbour, Jack Speight, in eighth grade. After being raped Rita, Jack’s wife, has a miscarriage and Dolores, again, thinks that this is her fault. These lead to the other major problems that she had to overcome as her life progressed...
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...staggers the necessary distance in the freezing cold to attend an all-white people church. What captured my interest about this short story is the religious symbolism. Per R. Wayne Clugston “a symbol is an object, person, or action that conveys two meaning: its own literal meaning and something it stands for as well” (Clugston, 2010, p.480). It is filled with symbolism of life and death; good and evil; love and hatred; and peace and anger. Throughout this paper, Alice will demonstrate the significance of how the application of point of view, setting, and symbolism plays a role contributing the theme of a story. In the story, a black woman enters a “white” church. She is a woman of faith; “there was a dazed and sleepy look in her aged blue–brown eyes” (Clugston, 2010) blue symbolizes a peacefulness that this woman has because of her faith. She is not a welcomed visitor to this congregation, though. The parishioners feel “a fear of the black and the old” (Clugston, 2010), the use of the word black is not just to tell us the color of her skin, but to symbolize evil. This is further supported in the words, “many of them saw jungle orgies in an evil place” (Clugston, 2010). The interesting thing about evil here is that it is not suggesting that the woman is evil. Rather, it is a symbol of what is in the hearts of the congregation. They are racists. They are unwilling to welcome her into their church. It is ironic, because they know this woman. The pastor may have called her “Auntie”...
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...staggers the necessary distance in the freezing cold to attend an all-white people church. What captured my interest about this short story is the religious symbolism. Per R. Wayne Clugston “a symbol is an object, person, or action that conveys two meaning: its own literal meaning and something it stands for as well” (Clugston, 2010, p.480). It is filled with symbolism of life and death; good and evil; love and hatred; and peace and anger. Throughout this paper, Alice will demonstrate the significance of how the application of point of view, setting, and symbolism plays a role contributing the theme of a story. In the story, a black woman enters a “white” church. She is a woman of faith; “there was a dazed and sleepy look in her aged blue–brown eyes” (Clugston, 2010) blue symbolizes a peacefulness that this woman has because of her faith. She is not a welcomed visitor to this congregation, though. The parishioners feel “a fear of the black and the old” (Clugston, 2010), the use of the word black is not just to tell us the color of her skin, but to symbolize evil. This is further supported in the words, “many of them saw jungle orgies in an evil place” (Clugston, 2010). The interesting thing about evil here is that it is not suggesting that the woman is evil. Rather, it is a symbol of what is in the hearts of the congregation. They are racists. They are unwilling to welcome her into their church. It is ironic, because they know this woman. The pastor may have called her...
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...Human Nature Nature in itself is like its own author it creates symbols naturally and can also set moods. Robert Frost’s After Apple Picking is about how it is human nature to take a break. Frost’s Mending Wall is about how it is normal for us humans to be guarded. These poems are similar in that they both use symbols and nature to reveal the speaker’s feelings of regret and security however; they are different in that their overall messages are not the same. Frost’s feelings of regret and security are conveyed through symbols and nature in both of these poems. In After Apple Picking Frost talks about his regrets as apples such as the “barrel that [he] didn’t fill” (After Apple Picking 3) which means that he didn’t finish doing something. He also said that that there were “apples [he] didn’t pick up” (5) which were opportunities not taken advantage of. When frost says he is “done with apple-picking (6) it shows that he is done with working or what he is doing because his regrets keep coming back to him. A way that nature shows his feelings are how this poem takes place at the end of apple picking which is end of fall beginning of winter. In winter animals hibernate and take long rests which frost is contemplating or if he is “just [feeling] some human sleep” (42) coming on. This means that he wants his feelings of regret to go away but wondering if it is humanly normal to do so. In Mending Wall the wall itself symbolizes security. When Frost says that he and his neighbor...
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...The reflection of The Story of an Hour ENGLISH 125: Introduction to literature Instructor: Robert Solomon Diana Walker January 21, 2013 A women’s quest for freedom The Story of an Hour is a short story written in 1894 by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin was a women writing in a time where women were not considered equal to men. Mrs. Chopin wrote the story of an hour with a powerful message behind it. This short story was about a woman who was unhappy in her marriage. The theme of this story is freedom. When Mrs. Mallard was told her husband had perish in a train wreck it seemed as though she was stricken with grief, but as the story goes on she shows great relief that he is gone. He’s death meant that she could start anew and have a life of freedom. This story was full of symbolism. After reading the text I found many word in this piece that symbolized the theme. The author use words like sun (life source), rain (blessing or sadness), spring (new beginnings), blue (peacefulness), and rose (beauty –love). “She could see in the open square the tops of trees that were all aquiver with new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air “. (clugston R.W. (2010) Journey to Literature). At first I wasn’t able to see the symbolism in the story, but after a second read a more research in the text on what symbolism is I was able to see it. Setting and symbolisms in the story of an hour make the theme. The story was written in 1894 which is not reflected in the story as...
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...What is human nature? How does William Golding use it in such a simple story of English boys to precisely illustrate how truly destructive humans can be? Golding was in World War Two, he saw how destructive humans can be, and how a normal person can go from a civilized human beign into savages. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily society can collapse, and how self-destructive human nature is. Throughout the story Golding conveys a theme of how twisted and sick human nature can lead us to be. Many different parts of human nature can all lead to the collapse of society. Some of the aspects of human nature Golding plugged into the book are; destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic. These emotions all attribute to the collapse of society. Golding includes character, conflict, and as well as symbolism to portray that men are inherently evil. Golding makes very good use of characters in Lord of the Flies, he shows both good and evil through each of the characters. One of the characters that represents goodness is Simon. He is very good and pure, and has the most positive outlook. Simon is very different from the other boys, he seems to always be helping the Littluns and many other vulnerable boys such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it." (Golding, pg.74) This quote interprets an example of a time when Simon helped Piggy...
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...to be protected from her husband who is both physically and emotionally abusive to her. However, Sykes Jones, is every bit the opposite of Delia Jones. He has neither religious values nor any important moral standards. He is an adulterous, who takes Delia’s hard working money, and spends not on his wife but on his mistress Bertha. Delia who relies solely on her faith and continues to stay contempt, no matter how her husband treats her, but Delia warned him that in the end, Sykes “sometime or ruther, Sykes, like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing (par. 26).” The white clothes that Delia washes are a symbol of Delia’s character, as being humble and having a humble spirit through all of Sykes emotional torment. While the white clothes are symbols of purity ad humbleness, Delia is a symbol of a God (Christian) like figure. The snake and whip are symbols in the story that represent evil. A snake is generally recognized as evil religiously, because of the biblical story Adam and eve, when Satan turns into...
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...It is one of the unique prehistoric artworks that were found in a pit at the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, dating back to approximately 3600-2500 B.C.E. This figurine represents a corpulent woman lying on her right side on top of a couch. The apparent size of the female that of being a corpulent woman, may be a representation of the godess of fertility. If we link this artwork with the time it was made, we can actually find that fertility was a very important issue for the people in general as it not only represents the re-generation of people but also their standard of living. Re-generation of people was a vital asset for them, as to have ancestors which will continue to flourish their culture. Being corpulent could also be considered as a symbol of prosperity, that there was food and that therefore people were strong. Additionally we can connect fertility with agriculture, which means that there’s a good crop season. It was also believed that being a corpulent woman was easier to give birth. Sleep can symbolise the eternal sleep, in other words- death. This is in fact very relevant as the figurine was found in a place which was used as a burial place. Moreover if we look closely to The Sleeping Lady we can see that her facial expression evokes serenity. It could also be a representation of a period of time when there was lack of fertility, or it could be a simple representation of a sleeping woman. The figurine measures about 12cm in height, is made of pottery and there’s...
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...Communication is freely used by everyone in modern society, including members of the general public, scholars, politicians, and so on. “Communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response” (Griffin, 2009, p. 6). It is a complex process that can be viewed in many ways and deals with a wide array of matters infiltrating every aspect of life. Communication is the interaction, giving and taking of information, sending and receiving of messages through verbal and non-verbal means. Verbal and Nonverbal communication are the two main divisions of communication, and each specific realm deals with its own unique subject matters, symbols, behaviors, and processes. Verbal Communication Examined Verbal communication is primarily based on vocabulary - both the use of it and the understanding of it. Verbal communication is one way for people to communicate. Some of the key components of verbal communication are sound, words, speaking, and language. The basis of communication is the interaction between people. The goal of verbal communication is to ensure that the person conveying the message and the audience receiving the message are both interpreting the information in the same manner. There are many questions one asks when it comes to verbal communication. One is whether meanings are found in people or in words? Language is ambiguous, arbitrary, and abstract (Wood, 2011, p.70). Words are merely sounds until they become associated with...
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...of thine eyes?” The color contrast of the Tyger and its eyes that shine in the night reflect the image of fiery and strong. Further in the poem the lamb makes an appearance when Blake writes, “Did he who made the lamb make thee?” asking the reader to consider that the same creator made both creatures. “When the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears,” reveals that the lamb was made of another element, water. The speaker then refers to fire once again when additionally in the poem, Blake describes how the Tyger is created. Using the image of a Blacksmith to portray the creator by using such words as “hammer”, “chain”, and “anvil” to give readers this illusion. Another form William Blake uses is symbolism. The symbol of the Tyger is one of inspiration, and power whereas the Lamb symbolizes tenderness and a sense of serenity. The fire associated with the Tyger, which contributes to the Tyger’s ferocity and the fact it is big, and powerful. Fire is a source of energy, and since the Tyger seems to be filled with fire, then he too must be filled with energy. An example of this would...
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...the literary tool differently within their stories. For Chekhov, simple gestures and subtle images meticulously placed throughout the text help to reveal psychological aspects of a character. Conrad, on the other hand, tends to employ symbolism rather visibly and allegorically, allowing the reader to directly establish a link between objects, actions, and themes. To compare Chekhov and Conrad’s writing styles, an example of symbolism in one of each author’s stories will be used: Gurov eating of the watermelon in Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog” and the lamp in Kurtz’s death scene in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. Using these examples, it becomes clear how Chekhov uses symbols to develop a character’s persona to more effectively have that character illustrate the story’s theme while Conrad uses symbols to directly develop the story’s theme. The watermelon scene in Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog” contains symbolism associated with the gestures and actions of the story’s male protagonist Gurov. Chekhov has the scene begin with Anna – the female protagonist – and Gurov entering Anna’s apartment for the first time. Immediately after entering, Anna begins to express her fear that Gurov will not respect her should she cheat on her husband and become romantically involved with Gurov. The details of Anna’s face also help to set the serious and gloomy tone for the scene as she is described to be “drooped and faded,” her hair hanging “sadly on both sides of her face” (269)...
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...entirely. To an American, a deed done in “cold blood” is a vicious deed done without empathy, however, to a Frenchman, a deed done in “le sang froid” is one done with self-control. The variation in the two languages is what causes the American to interpret negatively the words the Frenchman says in good spirit with the knowledge of his own language. Their two perspectives changed the meaning of the sentence entirely and it is for this reason why I would agree wholeheartedly that the knower’s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge. The challenges of understanding the meaning behind words or symbols do not solely result from the discrepancy in language and translation, but also in history and memory. Thousands of years before the Nazi Regime took power, the symbol of the swastika was used by many peoples around the world including the Buddhists. As a religious symbol the swastika was looked upon with reverence and joy (Black,John). Contrary to what a...
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...allow us to be what we cannot be, and to say what we do not say, in our more repressed daily lives; others believe they are just ones imagination at work. Such ideas can be used to explain the dreams of Raskolnikov in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment. Dostoyevsky’s use of imagery, symbolism and foreshadowing, in each Aspect of the dream reflect facets of Raskolnikov's complex personality and his attitude toward the crime he intends to commit. In his dream, Raskolnikov imagines himself as a young boy with his father. As they were walking, they noticed a drunken man, Mikolka, and a group of his drunk friends beating his horse to death for failing to walk while pulling an overloaded cart. Many aspects of the dream served as a symbol. The beaten horse in the dream, symbolizes Alyona, who Raskolnikov had planned to murder, while the young boy, Raskolnikov, and Mikolka together symbolize both sides of Raskolnikov’s conflicting conscience. While the young raskolnikov was pained by the brutal treatment shown to the horse, Mikolka felt as if the horse was useless to him and that she wasn’t doing any good for society and the people around her, and therefore deserved to die. The young boy represents the soft side of Raskolnikov that knows the crime he plans to commit is wrong. On the other hand Mikolka represented the side of Raskolnikov that believed that Alyona’s death would be a benefit to society. This showed that Raskolnikov wasn’t sure of himself, and that although...
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...Assignment B Red from Green is a short story written by Maile Meloy (from 2006). The personnel consist of just four people: Sam, her father, her uncle named Harry and his client, Layton. Sam is the main character – a girl. Although the name itself is for both sexes (e.g. short form for Samantha or Samuel) it is clear from the third word in the beginning that in this story Sam is a girl’s name. The story takes place in Montana at a river where the four characters are on a float trip down a river. Montana is the author’s home and one oft he most sparsely populated areas in the United States. The narrator stays close to Sam. Sam has just turned fifteen and has been offered a scholarship to a boarding school. In the beginning of the story she is yet unsure whether to accept it or not. But her personality changes within the story – and so does the decision pro or con boarding school: when we meet Sam in the beginning she is still a girl. Sam takes the same trip like every childhood years before. She and her father had been there before „as long as she can remember“. Obviously the trip is a sacred summer family routine, Father and daughter go into the wilderness to spend time together. But this year things do turn differently: Sam wasn’t the little girl she was many years before. She is more and more grown up and experiences the trip in a completely different way than all the previous years. Already in the first sentence the narrator tells that this was going to be her „last...
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...Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, they have the same fear of breaking what has been a lifelong tradition in their town. While the opening scenes depict a glorious day full of happy town members, Jackson is planning on turning the day into a treacherous one by the end of the story. Throughout the story, Jackson is using an array of symbols to give an uneasy feeling to the reader. These symbols are used to help portray the idea that by accepting these traditions can lead to terrible consequences. Looking at the title of this short story is something that is very important to what Jackson is trying to convey within the rest of the story. The lottery, in general, is a celebration of someone who has won. Although it is the case that someone does “win” in Jackson’s story, it is not the kind of winning that most people would celebrate. As for the people within the town, it is more that they are celebrating not being picked as opposed to being the one that has won. By using the lottery as the title of this short story, Jackson is setting the reader up to believe that the end result will be a joyous one but instead it is the exact opposite. This then becomes a symbol of what can happen when traditions are not questioned by future generations. The carefree tone that leads off this story gives the reader no...
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