...Analysis: “Late Wife” by Claudia Emerson “Late Wife” by Claudia Emerson is a book that contains a collection of poems focused on her struggle with being divorced, and starting a new life by herself. The book is separated in three parts: Divorce Epistles, Breaking up the House, and Late Wife, and each section shows Claudia dealing with a new problem. The separation of the poems made it easy to identify the theme patterns found in the collection. For every chapter there was theme to be centered around, it also helped that collection was in chronological order and in narrative writing, for the book starts by retelling the sadness on her mind when she was going through her divorce, then she makes a quick summary of her single life, and ends it with the struggle of being the second wife of a man who recently lost his wife. At the end, she admits that she finds happiness, but that her journey to be happy was rough yet worth it. The first section is “Divorce Epistles” and the theme of it is divorce. This chapter starts by showing the reader some flashbacks of how her marriage was like before the divorce and then it ends by showing what she did right afterwards. The first poem is “Aftermath” (5) and it is her reflection of her divorce she admits that she knew it was going to happen eventually. In these lines, “I confess that last house was the coldest I kept. In it, I became formless as fog, crossing / the walls, formless as your breath as it rose” (8), she was being ignored by her...
Words: 2039 - Pages: 9
...to change is the underlying theme of American author William Faulkner’s short story entitled “A Rose for Emily”. To others, resistance to change merely did not exist at all, Tyriese Simone states “the main idea of Emily was to show the willingness to change, changes brought on by the post-Civil war, death, change in society and loss of wealth”. Upon review, the real theme of this story is the resistance to change yes, but especially when it comes to adults modeling their relationship’s base on the relationship that they had with a parent of the opposite sex. Faulkner himself stated “Given a choice between grief and nothing, I'd choose grief” yet he wrote this story of this egotistical, impractical, isolated old woman, Miss Emily, who not only have mental and emotional problems but who is also unable to come to terms with the idea of death and suffers great deals of denial. Unlike Faulkner, Emily chooses grief, but nothingness came along with it due to the attachment with her father. The relationship she had and had always known with her father altered any relationship she had all her life. After the death of her beloved father she was very adamant about not changing and keeping things the way she knew. From a Psychoanalytical perspective, It is very much accurate to state that Emily “the monument of society” not only resists change but she models her relationships with the outside world and with her own personal love life based on the relationship that she had with her father...
Words: 2049 - Pages: 9
...from these routines. This is a theme, which is dealt with in Polly Clark´s Elephant. William, the main character, is an author who writes biographies about female multiple pop artists. His life is nothing but routine. In the following essay we will focus on the effects of this cyclical lifestyle by analyzing the relationship between William and his writing and the use of symbols in the text. The novel takes place inside the protagonists house. His and his wife’s garden symbolises their relationship, they say about the garden: "It looks so flat and unloved.", just like it is with them. They have thought about laying a deck over it, which resembles how they want to hide their problems. The garden is very depressing for the main character, and when he looks out it reminds him of bad things. Therefor he closes the curtains. They dream about new “settings”. They dream about changes in their life, and Ginny has an idea about moving to Australia. Ginny is blind to the problem, and thinks it is the life they live which is wrong, and not them. It is all ordinary boring days, and the unpleasant environment increase the feeling of their bad relationship. The author uses an implicit third person narrator, which gives us an insight in Williams thoughts and the cause of his actions, as in p. 4 l. 152: ” Tears filled his eyes. His fingers flew faster and faster. That his career in pulp biographies was definitely over did not matter a bit, in fact he knew with complete certainty that...
Words: 1001 - Pages: 5
...ENG 125 Introduction to Literature September 3, 2012 Racial background and ethnicities are represented in the short stories “Country Lovers”, and “The Welcome Table.” Both these stories have a main character or protagonist black female. Both of these women deal with some degree of discrimination because of their color. The theme of these stories is the hardships that these women suffer during their life can be suffered by anyone but growing up in a discriminatory situation creates a more dramatic story. The main themes in “Country Lovers” are love and racial politics. Country Lovers was written during a time when Africa was suffering from racial segregation. This story has irony throughout the entire story. Thebedi and Paulus grow up together and they fall in love. They grew up in Africa during the apartheid when their country did not allow interracial relationships. Paulus Eysendyck was the son of the farm owner and Thebedi’s father worked on that farm. They both knew they could not be together publicly. During the apartheid in Africa it was illegal to have an interracial relationship. There are several dramatic effects in this story. The first is when the narrator talks about Paulus going away to school “This usefully coincides with the age of twelve or thirteen; so that by the time early adolescence is reached, the black children are making along with the bodily changes common to all, an easy transition to adult forms of address, beginning...
Words: 1051 - Pages: 5
...experiences of my life. I was never someone who fit in with the crowd easily. While most teenagers my age liked to go out, party, drink and do drugs, I spent my time doing homework, reading, at work, or hanging out with my family. While I’d like to admit I didn’t dream about just rebelling against my parents by lying, sneaking out, and staying up all night with strangers, some part of me does. I mean, isn’t that what highschool is about nowadays? Ask any high school student today, and I will bet my next paycheck that most of them are used to ways of college life, the life of drinking, doing drugs, and partying one that is. That’s why when I got accepted to Eastern, that inner rebellious teenager of mine came out again. College wasn’t what I had expected. Of course, I’ve only been at Eastern for a semester so what do I really know. What I do know, is I’ve learned a lot during this specific course, which cannot be broken down in a single sentence. I’ll admit, when I was registering for classes back in August as a incoming freshman I decided to take all “easy” classes, speech, art history and literature. I thought to myself, literature couldn’t be that hard right? It’s just reading a whole lot of...
Words: 1666 - Pages: 7
...ENG 102 July 19, 2011 The Count of Monte Cristo is rich with complex themes. Themes of betrayal, revenge, and justice become ever so tangled together after being complicated by Ferdinand’s jealousy of Edmond’s happiness. Social class leads Ferdinand to feel he is entitled to a better, richer, happier life than that of his friend, Edmond, who is just a commoner, thus leading him to betray his best friend whom he grew up with. There are many different themes in The Count of Monte Cristo. Edmond Dantes is betrayed by the other characters in the story making betrayal one of the main themes. Early on Napoleon prey’s on Edmond’s lack of education, and naivety when he convinces Edmond to deliver a letter in which he lies about its contents using Edmond as a pawn. Danglar, the first mate of the ship, becomes embittered and jealous towards Edmond when he is recognized as being a hero for saving their captain and is promoted above him. Danglar then conspires with Mondego and reports Edmond to Villefort for treason. Mondego is being driven by a deeper envy of his friend’s happiness. He is jealous of Edmond’s ability to be happy with the simple lot he has in life. Also he is jealous of the loving relationship that Edmond has with Mercedes. He feels he is entitled to have more happiness along with the wealth and education he already has. So he is driven to betray Edmond his best friend whom he grew up with by giving Danglar the information to turn Edmond in for treason which Danglar is...
Words: 919 - Pages: 4
... they knew they would always be champions to each other” (Thomas 33). This quote from the story “Amigo Brothers” by Piri Thomas shows one of many interactions between the amigo brothers, Felix and Antonio. Felix and Antonio are two best friends who do everything with each other, from working out for their boxing championships, to running along the beach. When the brothers figure out they have to fight against each other, they have a difficult time and have to learn how to keep their bond strong. The strength found within Felix and Antonio is important for middle school students to read about. This story shares many experiences a typical middle school student would have to go through. The “Amigo Brothers” shares...
Words: 1223 - Pages: 5
...Can You See The White Elephant? Have you ever been forced to make a life altering decision? A decision where you much choose one option or the other? The short story Hills Like White Elephants depict a situation in which many, if not all readers can relate to at one point in their lives. The author Ernest Hemingway describes this scenario with a young couple who are at a crossroads in their life, and they are unsure of the future. The young couple are forced, but shying away from the rather large “white elephant in the room”, deciding to go through with having a child or an abortion. The theme in Hills Like White Elephants is expressed using typical thematic literary elements. Hemingway uses elements such as character, setting, conflict, and irony all to express the short story theme and symbolism. All of these elements help to develop the theme of decision making and sacrifice. The reader gets very little background on the relationship of the young couple but at the same time receives insight into the norms of the relationship between the “American man” and Jig the “girl” who is pregnant. Jig is represented as a young dependent girl, in article Tim O’brian writes, “Even the nickname "Jig" develops this central conflict. The name suggests a dance, the music for the dance, and a joke, for instance, and thereby exposes the man's ultimately condescending attitude toward her: she is entertainment, material for an interlude, perhaps. “Hemingway uses the character as an element...
Words: 1701 - Pages: 7
...Friendships and special relationships are apart of every human beings everyday life. We all have an unexplainable innate desire for companionship and friendship. These relationships help us get through many obstacles we can face and really make great influences. Each friendship we develop throughout our life has a unique but distinct love; the love that exists empowers the extents and the actions of each person apart of the relationship. A quote by the Grecian poet Homer that says, “The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend, as to find a friend worth dying for.” explains this but how difficult it may be for us to form one’s that motivate us to perform some of the greatest deeds. Throughout The Help by Kathryn Stockett friendships and other special relationships are evident. They play an important role in the main subject of the novel and appear all throughout. They appear in this novel to display how powerful and necessary friendships are. This theme is also evident in many artifacts of popular culture; one for example is the hit song “Umbrella” by pop star Rihanna. This song was created to express her loyalty to her friends and guarantee their protection no matter the circumstance. In both The Help and “Umbrella” the use of the theme of friendship was used to communicate the immense love and loyalty that exists within friendships and express the true power both this love and loyalty holds. In The Help relationships constantly appear like the one that exists between...
Words: 1444 - Pages: 6
...had yearned for the day where she would be able to express her love for Mihir Jham. They had been together ever since the beginning of their college year, though this had been a secret kept from her parents. The idea of Muslim girl marrying a Hindu boy would never be deemed acceptable or appropriate by them. When she finally garnered the courage to request them to fulfill her desire, her parents were aghast. Isra’s father was taken aback, and questioned her intentions. “How could you even think of such a thing? We are Muslims, and marrying you off to Hindu boy is considered haram.” A similar response was received from her mother, when she reacted; “Do you even know of the consequences of such an act? We will be shunned by the Muslim society, and moreover, we will lose all our respect.” As a result, Isra was denied any further meeting with the love of her life, and was bound to her room until further notice. Isra was devastated, and ran to her room in despair. She knew for her parent’s sake and their family’s reputation that she had to cut all ties with Mihir. In an attempt to explain the unfolding situation, she sent him an email citing reasons for why they could no longer be together. For the first time in years, her parents kept a tab on her, right from what she did, where she went, and more importantly with whom she socialized with. Isra experienced an invasion of private space, and no longer felt comfortable with her surroundings. She began to feel a loss of freedom and...
Words: 1161 - Pages: 5
...Essay Chameleon is a short story written by Ranbir Sahot. It´s a forbidden love story, where an Indian girl and an English boy are in a relationship. The main charcrecter is the Indian girl called Rita, she has lived her whole life in Britain and got British values. None of the parents thinks that Rita and Mark the boy can be together because of their cultures. Mark comes from a white catholic home and his parents thinks that he needs to find a girl “that´s not” Indian girl. Rita´s parents lives after the old tradition in Indian were the parents choose the husband for their girl, but Rita has grown up in Britain and don’t understand the old Indian traditions, she wants to pick her own husband and if she have to choose it will be with mark. Rita as a person is living a double life. She is with her English boyfriend Mark, who she cannot be seen with in public, while she is with her family who is trying strenuously to find an Indian husband to her who knows the traditional Indian values and will treat Rita with Indian manners “You need an Indian boy from a good family who will respect and look after you, not like those white boys” where this quote explains the point of view her parents have on her. In the start of the short story Rita sort of obey her parents, even though she would never marry one of the guys. In an argument with her mother, Rita is showing a rebellious behavior by saying “So it’s okay for him to expect me to be beautiful, fair and virginal or demand that...
Words: 1400 - Pages: 6
...also thought that the Angel must also be a metaphor for something, and I realized that it was a metaphor for the angel that had saved Nick. I thought that Kid Death and the Angel bundled together represented what we perceive as the “Devil and Angel on our shoulders.” The Devil is Kid Death and the angel being the angel. This showed nicks inner battle to either remain behind a mask and be cool like Kid Death and make Bad things happen. Or be good like the angel and not be so cool but still be good, in the end he chose the path of the Angel and this changed his life since he started being good and not always acting tough since he knew what happens if he does. Before the seminar, I had a pretty clear idea of what the subject of the story was. I remembered the general area of the subject of the story was to constantly travel the good path in life. In the scene near the end of the text where Nick was “frozen in time” and was looking at the angel saving his brother. He could choose to follow the path of the angel which symbolized him being good or choose the path of Kid Death and keep being bad (or keep on his mask) . He chooses the path of the angel and chooses to remain good. By selecting the best path in his life and by not acting tough, he changed his and his brother’s life and they both became successful. You can see evidence of this in the text , for example , when...
Words: 912 - Pages: 4
...by the onlookers of Boston as sinful because she has committed adultery. Later, it is revealed that Hester and the young minister Arthur Dimmesdale had an affair. Although Dimmesdale did not know that he befriended Hester’s once lost husband Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale is also punished for his sin. Themes...
Words: 670 - Pages: 3
...The exceptional novel ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton leaves us questioning about our lives and the society in which we live in. Hinton explores this throughout her rebellious narrative, using the themes of stereotypes and relationships and connections with others. With these themes Hinton then displays the messages of not to judge people without getting to know them first and that love and understanding can play a major role in a person's life. People should be judged on their merits and not by stereotypes that have been unreasonably placed upon them, as these can often prove inaccurate and misleading. Throughout the novel ‘The Outsider’, S.E. Hinton reveals to readers that people shouldn’t place labels on others, but instead to get to know...
Words: 1120 - Pages: 5
...This tale showed me the sacrifice for love and all while this famous war is happening is inspirational. A love triangle can never end in a happy way there is always that one person who ends up alone. Rick didn’t end up alone though, he knew that although he would be hurt with his final decision that she would be safe. Rick gave up the love of his life and not many people can do that during our time in 2016. In 2016 it is hard for a relationship to last past 3 months. For Rick and Ilsa to have such a strong love that they both were willing to sacrifice themselves is inspirational. I am truly a movie fanatic and sadly I have never seen Casablanca I truly loved it. I haven’t seen many films in black and white but I think it was good because it opens up your imagination to wonder if it is that color or this color. The whole film was overall incredible in my eyes and I wouldn’t have changed one...
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
