Consider the theme of loneliness Essay Example for Free

Consider the theme of loneliness Essay Steinbeck employs character are restrained by the rules of society and through them, to convey the characteristics of American society in the 1920s:a society based on physical strength and individualism. The unusual pair, Lennie and George, seemed incongruous in their situations and by comparing and contrasting their relationship to the others, the reader is given a further understanding to the theme. The entire novel is full of references to this theme. In Soledad, also the Spanish word for loneliness, situates the ranch where the majority of the story is set. It is an ordinary ranch with ordinary people doing monotonous, meanual work such as bucking barley. The nature of this work suggests the kind of lifestyle the characters on the ranch lead. The ranch also represents a microcosm of the outside world. Here in this close community, a range of characters, each identify by their own personality, are required to work closely together inorder to achieve their own, individual dreams. When George and Lennie first enters the ranch, they are greeted by an old swamper by the name Candy. A fragile old man with only one hand, he is used by Steinbeck to demonstrate the cruelty of society towards elderly and the disabled. In a society that emphasis physical strength, Candy is clearly at a disadvantage. However, he does not attempt this disadvantage but rather expose the more feminine and sensitive side of him to others to reinforce this weakness. His domestic role in the bunkhouse and part as the gossiper again is an expansion of his at5/9/00titude towards the rest of the male in the ranch. Candy separates himself from the rest of guys and has only the company of a dragged-footed sheep-dog. When Carlson demands the killing of this dog, although disapproves of it, does not retaliate but instead looked hopelessly at Slim and asks for his assistance. His reaction to Carlsons demand is passive in the way that he only watched uneasily and tries to delay the killing by suggesting may be to-morra. His deep-rooted relationship with the dog is shown in this intensely emotional part that explicitly dissects his sensitivity. At the sound of the shot, he appears lost and all he manages to do is to stare into the ceiling blankly. Similar to this, at the end of the story, George too has to face with the death of his love ones. The difference however lies in the reason behind the killing. George justifies the killing and does it out of his concern for Lennie and not out of pressure from others. Curley is the second character appearing on the scene. A thin young man wearing high-heeled boots, he is clearly no ordinary labouring man. He is the boss son and is determine to show his status and authority using this kind of symbolism. However, by doing so, he achieves exactly the opposite. The other men do not acknowledge his authority and even Candy thinks of him as a scrappy little guy. His method of trying to gain respects by false image works against him and isolates him from the others. Curley also has a wife who is the only female in the ranch. This arrangement and character of his wife can only encourage the insecurity he feels anyway. Although he has a wife, she appears more a possession to show off rather than a company. Their relationship is equivocal since they appear to spend all day looking for each other. His stature also becomes a great encumbrance to him. With a personality that is completely obsess with self-image, Curley is deeply disturb by his height and to resolve this, he translates his anger towards himself onto others. To him, Lennies physique is a challenge of authority and because of this, he wants by prove himself by defeating Lennie. This transference accounts for his cynical nature and isolates him from everyone else. Although desperate to participate, his character and fear for judgement are essential ingredients for his desolation. Curleys wife is too refereed to as a destitute character. Even before her appearance, the reader is given a pre-conceived image of a lousy tart by the introduction from Candy. Her dramatic entrance and physical appearance appears to fit the image: full rouged lips and heavily made-up, clearly she is not a simple country girl by any mean. From her playful action and twitchy body language, George immediately recognize her as the femme fatale and warned Lennie not to talk to her. This warning is a pre-echo to the trouble Lennie will get in for her later on in the story, a build up to the final tragedy at the end. Even at first sight she gave the reputation of a tramp and jail-bait. At a primary level, her action can be explained by boredom and experiment. She is the only in the ranch and clearly has no one to relate. However, from her past experience, Steinbeck implies that Curleys wife dream about being in the movies all day. By flirting and making sexual suggestive message to others, she attempts to achieve the glamorous and danger feel of affair that she imagined they do in the movies. An alternative explanation to her action would be that she is another victim of loneliness, desperate to establish relationship with others. She dislike Curley for when Curley crushed his hand she even suggested to Lennie that she would have liked to done it herself. When she eventually discovers that Lennie is a good listener, she unburdens herself with words in a passion of communication, as though she hurried before her listener could be taken away. She is a highly ambivalent character because although the reader feels sympathetic towards her for her past cast- couch experience, her seduction that lead to the murder at the end is almost entirely her fault. One may argue that she had no knowledge of Lennies past and receives the punishment harsher than she deserves. More over, the price for her innocent mistake is on the destruction of the hope of three blameless people: George, Lennie and Candy. Similarly, George and Lennie have a dream, the American dream of living off the fatta the lan . This phrase followed by a description of their future house is a leimotif representing the birth and rebirth of their hope. This hope is the source of energy and once shattered, unlike Curleys wife who was then able to found a less satisfying alternative: George can find no other replacement like Lennie. Crooks the Negro stable buck is presented as another victim of loneliness. Due to his colour and disability, he is separated with the rest of the male community in everyway. This is shown in the examples that the boss gives him hell whenever he is mad and only in special occasion such as Xmas is he allow into the bunkhouse. In this highly racist period, Crooks role as the nigger stable buck meant he is at the bottom of the hierarchy and therefore ostracized by the rest of the community. Due to this inferiority, Crooks feels even stronger about protecting himself in territorial terms and by isolation. Nonetheless, he does not enjoy this solitude but instead, quite prefer the opposite. This is best shown when Candy and Lennie enter his room, which no one but Slim had done before, Crooks finds it difficult to conceal his pleasure in anger. Although he would rather play card in the bunkhouse with others, since he stink and aint wanted there, instead, he has to sit out here and read books. This shows that he has adapted to loneliness using other means but although he knows nothing can replace a real company. In the scene which he unburdens himself to Lennie, the situation becomes parallel to that of Lennie and Curleys wife. Not only are they both absurd and have difficulty in relating to others on the ranch due to society boundary based on racism and sexism, they both confide in Lennie because he would not go on blabbin to others. With Lennie they do not feel under threat and therefore do not have to protect themselves with masks of imagery. In comparison, George and Lennie are always at ease at the company of each other. Apart from Slim, they appear to be the only gu ys on the ranch to manage this. Slim the jekline skinner is the touch stone character in the novel used to reflect morally and decency. Although with a common appearance, every movement and air of his is described with royalty and achieved only by master craftsmen. However, his title as the price of the ranch is not self-given. His authority is acknowledge by the other males on the ranch and so great the his word was taken on any object. His power appears to go beyond the system at the time. Even in this image-ridden macho culture, Slim does not needs to prove his position by creating illusion using force, yet with quite the opposite: gentleness and sense; elements of human quality that are most required in this imbalance situation. Apart from Lennie, Slim appears to be the only one who George is willing to confide. During the talk, they touch on the subject of loneliness, a sensation that grins a normal, respectable person to nothing but a mean guy who wants to fight all the time. In this part of the novel, George explains his relationship with Lennie and why they had traveled together. In a deeper sense, the phrase got kinda used to each other implies a long-term relationship which neither of the can live without now. Other minor characters in the novel such as Carlson and Whitney represent transaline people who best demonstrate the majority of the society at the time. They aint got no people so they move around the country as Crook states: they come, an they quit ango. Their life style is monotonous and they aint have no fun. Their few entertainments include the horseshoe game and cards, which again are reference to competition and individualism. Nonetheless, it is only in these games they make allowance for their guard and relax into the company of each other. In conclusion, Steinbeck presentation of the theme of loneliness is reflected in the actions of his character. Although desperate to make contact, their concern for reputation and nature of the machismo culture in society isolate them from one another. The end tragedy then attracts sympathy from the reader by shattering the hope of few exceptions that appeared to have survived.

Marie de Frances Eliduc, Boccaccios Ninth Tale of the Fifth Day, and Shakespeares As You Like It :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Women in Marie de Frances' Eliduc, Boccaccio's Ninth Tale of the Fifth Day, and Shakespeare's As You Like It    Whether it is Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, or Renaissance writing, women have always played a significant role in literature. Sometimes they act as counterparts to men, but sometimes they dominate the storyline themselves. Helen of Troy, Guildeluec, Monna Giovanna, and Rosalind, among others, prove to be just as vital characters as the men in their stories. Whether it is beauty, kindness, or strength, each one contributes significantly to the grandeur of the classic in which she is a part. Helen of Troy is perhaps one of the most famous women of all literature. It is her beauty that Paris desires, and it is her abduction by this handsome youth that brings the Greeks and Trojans to war. Helen is powerful although the Hellenic tradition stresses the importance of men's achievement. Sparking a war is quite a task for one woman to accomplish, and yet Helen in Homer's The Iliad does not play an active role as Achilles does. She is a stereotypical beautiful woman, whose physical appearance is all that counts, and her beauty becomes only a curse. As a woman, she is no more than an object of possession. Nowhere in the epic does the reader really gain insight into how she thinks or feels. In Marie de Frances' "Eliduc," Guildeluec is Eliduc's wife, or first wife, who is a devout Christian. She, as well as the story, puts great importance on the pleasing of God. The Judeo-Christian tradition is known for God's adoration rather than man's achievement. The portrayal of Guildeluec, which is rather unrealistic, adds to the story's fairy-tale style. Guildeluec is the loyal wife who waits patiently at home while her husband fights for the good of his country as well as his Lord. She waits patiently once again when he leaves to help another king since his own monarch no longer trusts him. Eliduc meets the king's daughter and falls in love, despite the fact that he has promised his wife he would never leave her. When Guildeluec realizes that her husband is in love with another woman, she not only saves this woman's life, but gives her to Eliduc as well. The fairy-tale characteristics come into play here because no woman in real life would be so kind if her husband cheated on her.

Life in Ireland & Typhoid Fever Essay

During the 1930s in Ireland, the majority of the people lived in the countryside. There were several late marriages and high birth-rates in the rural areas of Ireland at this time. Numerous people from Ireland were immigrating to England because of overcrowding and poor economic conditions. Ireland was also fighting an economic war with Britain at this time. Some popular forms of entertainment in Ireland were cinema, cross-road dancing, and sports. 2.There are several similarities to the poem about the highwayman and the story of Patricia and Frankie. In â€Å"The Highwayman† Bess, the landlord’s daughter was not allowed to talk to the highway man because of her father. This is similar to â€Å"Typhoid Fever† because Frank and Patricia were not allowed to talk to each other because the nuns and nurses wouldn’t allow it because of their diseases. Another similarity is that Bess dies in â€Å"The Highwayman† and Patricia dies in â€Å"Typhoid Fever†. It also seemed as if Frank was falling in love with Patricia, like how the thief had fallen in love with Bess. In â€Å"Typhoid Fever† Frank stated, â€Å"I’d love to do that myself, come by moonlight for Patricia in the next room not giving a hoot though hell should bar the way.† My inference of this line was that Frank felt that his relationship with Patricia was similar to the thief’s relationship with Bess. 3.Frank McCourt was able to re-create the voice of a 10-year-old boy in â€Å"Typhoid Fever† because the events described in â€Å"Typhoid Fever† were of his own. â€Å"Typhoid Fever† came from a memoir Frank had written, which was called Angela’s Ashes. A memoir is a biography or an account of historical events, especially one written from personal knowledge. I also think Frank McCourt was able to re-create the voice of a 10-year-old boy because of how he had the main character act and talk. For example, when Patricia asks how old he is and appears disappointed when he says ten, Frank says, â€Å"But I’ll be eleven in August, next month.† Usually children want to be perceived as older. So when you ask a child how old they are, they usually are very exact, saying the year and month. Another example form the story is how Frank reacts when Patricia mimics the nun. In the story it says, â€Å"Then Patricia whispers, Give thanks, Francis, give thanks, and say your rosary,  Francis and I laugh so hard a nurse runs in to see if I’m all right.† If an adult had heard Patricia mimic the nun they would be able to control their laughter enough so that the nurse would not have heard anything.

The Movie Bruce Almighty - 906 Words

The movie â€Å"Bruce Almighty† is an exemplary and metaphorical depiction of the idea of who God is, how God can be interpreted throughout the movie through scenes and characters, and how is God seen in relation to His creation. The central point of the story revolves around the theme of reminding viewers to â€Å"be the miracle.† From a personal point of view, the characters are symbolic and bear theological significance. The movie is didactic in quality and carries some tinge of comedy with apparent glimpses of domestic and familial environment. It reflects personality and character issues and parallels historic and biblical narratives that point toward a theological understanding of who the characters are and, why they exist. The scenes chiefly lean toward the auteur’s understanding of a character’s personal ideals and perspectives. They indirectly emphasize theological reasons of climax in the story. The movie in one sense is a journey of experiencing God’s grace and resurrecting the metaphorical dead Bruce. In addition to exploring the themes mentioned above, this paper will give voice to Dr. Ray’s statement that â€Å"God in Godself is relational† (10/29). The movie begins with one of the first sentences by Bruce stating â€Å"God, why do you hate me?† This question seems to be a voice of the auteur spoken on behalf of many other â€Å"Bruces† who, like him, actually claim that God hates them which conveys â€Å"that God exists.† Their act of questioning is not questioning God, but rather God’sShow MoreRelatedThe Myth Of Biblical Myths1503 Words   |  7 Pageswill be identifying the myth that is underlying the modern text which is Bruce almighty and then I will be analysing the way the myth has been used in the film. 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