#literatureanalysis

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Exploring the Narratives: Unraveling the Threads of Journeys

Embark on a literary expedition, weaving through the tapestry of tales, dissecting diverse journeys & unearthing narratives in their purest form.

Embark on a literary expedition, weaving through the tapestry of tales, dissecting diverse journeys & unearthing narratives in their purest form. Read more 👉 https://www.bookrentfly.com/exploring-the-narratives-unraveling-the-threads-of-journeys/

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I Can Have My Cake and Eat It Too

Mariah Carey once said, “Why you so obsessed with me? Boy I want to know… You’re delusional, you’re delusional, boy you’re losin’ your mind,” and illustrates exactly how obsession and delusion are related and can go hand in hand. Obsession over another human can sometimes be dismissed as being overly attached because of a somewhat delusional, immense desire for someone, while obsession over an object can often be seen as unnatural. Often when one becomes obsessed with a physical object, his or her sanity is called into question, and the obsession can either be the result of an intense personal connection to the object, or the result of a search for the answers to a problem. In the short story “Janus” by Ann Beattie, Andrea is a married woman whose obsession with a ceramic bowl is a result of both these reasons. Her engrossment with this bowl heightens to the point where it consumes her thoughts and appears in her dreams. A sense of delusion is hinted at, when she even begins to center her life on the bowl, convinced that it is the reason for her success. Andrea’s abnormal obsession with her bowl leads to her unconscious possessive actions surrounding the bowl, which sheds light on the fact that she is unable to move on from the consequence of a past traumatic decision. Although the bowl that Andrea is attached to does not stand out by its physical appearance alone, it holds a value that Andrea herself cannot seem to place at first. This in turn causes her to attribute her success as a real estate agent to the bowl. She describes the bowl as “perfect,” with “a real presence,” despite it being “not a bowl you’d select if you were faced with a shelf of bowls” (Beattie 595). Andrea takes the bowl to her client’s houses, convinced that whenever she brings it to a house, the buyers are drawn to the house because of the bowl. Her behavior around the bowl is soon seen as unnatural when she forgets her bowl at a client’s home and rushes back to the house, frantically asking if the bowl is still there. She states that, “she felt like rushing past the frowning woman and seizing her bowl… [and] it was only when [she] ran to the chest, that the lady glanced at her a little strangely” (Beattie 597). Instead of concluding, as one normally would, that her possessiveness over the bowl is unusual, she instead thinks, “the owner must have seen that [the bowl] had been perfectly placed [by her], that the sunlight struck the bluer part of it” (Beattie 597). Although Andrea consciously sees that her behavior could be regarded as strange, an unconscious part of her is unwilling to accept that, so she comes to other conclusions. She also “[wonders] how she could have left the bowl behind,” as if that is the worst thing she could have done (Beattie 597). The impossibility of walking away from the bowl in Andrea’s mind brings into question what the bowl actually means to her.

Later, is it revealed that Andrea had received the bowl from her past lover; someone that she had an affair with. To Andrea, the bowl represents another world, and something that she wants to keep close, namely the ex-lover. Andrea’s protectiveness of the bowl increases and she becomes further convinced that the bowl has become the sole component in her success of selling houses. Her husband is completely unaware of this, and calls the bowl “pretty,” but shows “no more interest in the bowl” (Beattie 596). This obliviousness hints at the nature of her marriage, which seems unsatisfactory to her, due to her husbands disinterest in it. She then expresses guiltiness over “keeping this constant secret [of her success]” from her husband, which is actually a reflection of the guilt she feels from her affair (Beattie 598). Andrea tells her husband “to please not drop his house keys in [her bowl]. It was meant to be empty” (Beattie 596). Though this seems like an unimportant request, her unconscious desire is to keep these two worlds apart in her mind, and so she consciously manipulates the physical world to match with this. Andrea longs to have two lives: one with her husband, and one with her ex-lover. In an effort to do so, she keeps the bowl with her as a way of satisfying this unconscious desire, as she is not allowed to indulge in it. This hidden desire even comes through to her dreams and “twice, in a waking dream… she had a clear vision of [the bowl]… [it] startled her for a moment— the same bowl she looked at every day” (Beattie 597). Sigmund Freud found that “Unconscious wishes can find expression in dreams because dreams distort the unconscious material and make it appear different from itself and more acceptable to consciousness” (Rivkin and Ryan 390). It is interesting then, that even in her dreams, the bowl, which represents her desire to keep her past lover in her life, still appears as the bowl he gave her. She sees this as the only acceptable and satisfying way for him to be in her life while simultaneously being absent from it. In this way, she is deluding herself into thinking that she can in fact, have her cake and eat it too. Andrea’s love for the bowl only continues to grow and she even considers the possibility that she might even “have some deep connection with the bowl—a relationship of some kind? She corrected her thinking: how could she imagine such a thing, when she was a human being and it was a bowl? It was ridiculous” (Beattie 598). She finally acknowledges that her constant attention to the bowl is more than just an appreciation for the “perfection” of it. Now it is “something within her… something real, that she never talked about” (Beattie 598). Her unconscious actions that revolve around the bowl are breaking through to her consciousness, and the mystery of what the bowl means to her confuses and frustrates her. She expresses sadness over the fact that this unrequited good fortune the bowl brings her is unable to be reciprocally returned. This sadness is due to the regret she feels for being unable to return her lover’s commitment to her, because of her husband.

Andrea’s unusual attachment to the bowl is due to her inability to make a decision on whether or not she should leave her husband for the man she had an affair with. She remembers the moment when she and her lover are at a crafts fair and she feels drawn to the bowl. She tells him, “she didn’t need anymore things,” but she “linger[s] near it,” until her lover decides to buy it for her (Beattie 599). After this flashback, Andrea wonders why she values that bowl over everything else her lover had given her and she tries to “talk herself out of it” (Beattie 599). What she fails to see is that the way in which this bowl was bought for her represents the commitment of the lover, and her failure to return the commitment. This moment replays in her mind and she remembers, “Her lover had said that she was always too slow to know what she really loved… Why be two faced, he asked her” and when “she would not decide in his favor, would not change her life and come to him, he asked her what made her think she could have it both ways” (Beattie 599). He tells her he is all in for this relationship and willingly buys the bowl for her, knowing it is what she truly wants, but she cannot not do the same for him and now all she has left of him is this bowl that he gave to her. The lover makes the decision for her by buying her the bowl when she cannot make a decision herself. This moment parallels the ultimatum he gives her, only this time, he is unable to make the decision for her, and she consequently fails to make one at all. The lover leaves her, and she is left with this unfulfilled desire for the world she had when she was with him. However, this does not mean that she wants to leave her husband as, “they were a lot alike, really” (Beattie 597). Rather she wants to keep both her husband and her lover. Thus, the obsessive tendency she has over this bowl is a way of preserving the memories of the world she had with her lover, as well as this idea of having both worlds that she loves so much. She fears that “some accident would happen,” to the bowl and feels “horror [at] the possibility of [its] disappearance” (Beattie 598). Her meticulous care for her bowl is how she keeps the past alive; she holds onto the bowl as she should have held onto her lover. Andrea remains “embedded in the trauma as a contemporary experience, instead of being able to accept it as something belonging to the past” (Kolk and McFarlane 492). She lives in the moment when she could have decided to leave her husband, perpetually wondering if life could possibly have been better with her lover. She begins to center her life around the bowl, the symbol of her trauma, by “[becoming] more deliberate with the bowl, and more possessive. She put it in houses only when no one was there… Instead of just moving a pitcher or dish, she would remove all the other objects from a table. She had to force herself to handle them carefully, because she didn’t really care about them” (Beattie 598). She eventually gets to a point where she “didn’t really care” about anything except the bowl, and makes it the center of attention. This distracting concern for her bowl is a way of avoiding, full force, the remorse she feels for not being able to have her lover in her life. Andrea cannot control the past, so she settles for controlling the bowl. This moment with her ex-lover traumatized her and results in the immense amount of attention she gives the bowl, even down to its placement on a table. Andrea “often looked at the bowl, sitting on the table, still and safe, unilluminated. In its way, it was perfect: the world cut in half, deep and smoothly empty” (Beattie 599). This bowl is the other half of her world; clean and without fault, perfectly preserved, but at the same time, completely empty. She desires the time when she had both worlds: one with her husband, and one with her lover. The amount of care and attention to detail she gives her bowl is a way of preserving this perfect world she had and still longs for. Andrea “did not think beyond that, to what her life would be like without the bowl,” and in this way, she also does not think about the reality of her life without her lover (Beattie 599). Her life and marriage seem mundane without it, and so through this bowl, she is unconsciously choosing to live in the past. Andrea is convinced that if she focuses her attention on the bowl, she will never have to accept the fact that things will never be the way it used to. Janus is the Roman God of beginnings, choices, and gates, and is characterized by having two faces: one that looks to the future and one that looks to the past (“Janus”). Andrea is unable to walk through any gate, because she desires the world of the past as well as the one of the future, and instead uses this bowl to convince herself that she will never have to live without either. The bowl fills her emptiness, but in doing so, she becomes obsessive over a material object and a victim to her own trauma in the absence of her lover. She unconsciously filters her feelings of regret and indecisiveness through controlling the bowl, which results in a cycle of delusion and inability to let go of the past and live in the present. Andrea tries to have her cake, and eat it too, but ends up with neither a cake, nor a happy stomach.

[lwongrhsenglitcomp]

Literature Analysis #7: Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Check out Rachel Shedd’s blog for the last four questions! This is again a collaboration!

1. Lord of the Flies takes place on a mysterious island when the boys’ plane crashes onto it. They were heading towards England for boarding school when a storm turned for the worst and took down their plane. The boys are only in their adolescence stage of their life, so when the only adult they had (the pilot) dies from the crash, the boys are left to their own devices. There were four characters that stood out to me in the book: Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon. Each of these characters was a symbol for what power/chaos could do to you. Ralph and Jack fight over who should be the leader of the boys, since they are one of the older boys. They decide to vote for chief and Ralph only loses the votes of Jack’s fellow choirboys. Ralph and Jack have different strategies of “surviving”. Ralph wants to immediately start building a fire signal to get off the island, where as Jack wants to immerse himself in the wild. The group of boys are so young and inexperienced though that many accidents and mistakes occur. “The Beast” (a sighting the younger boys believe the saw) is also a prominent source of troubles for the boys. It causes much controversy and arguments about what to do with it if it even existed. These misfortunes led Jack and Ralph to have a showdown, both declaring themselves a better leader. Due to their differing opinions, Ralph and Piggy go off one way and Jack plus all the other boys make their own tribe. Jack and “his tribe” don’t want to go back home and believe that surviving in the wild is more enjoyable and liberating. They have let go of any rules of civilization and do as their animalistic instincts please. Ralph and Piggy realize this and know that Jack and his boys are going to come after them for vengeance (for not joining his tribe). Jack raids Ralph’s campsite for Piggy’s glass (their only tool for fire) and in the process of trying to get them, kill Piggy. They show no remorse for Piggy’s tragic demise, reinforcing the fact that these boys have let chaos take them over. Ralph knows he’s next and makes a plan to fight them off as long as possible. But during his plan, while running from Jack and his tribe along the shoreline, a sailor finds them. Once the boys get a sight of civilization (the sailor in uniform), they sober up. Jack and his boys stop hollering and feel a bit out of place and ashamed for their barbaric appearance. Ralph breaks down into tears of relief; he knows that he will be rescued now.

2. The theme Golding was trying to achieve is that without the rules and structure of society, you enter into a world of chaos and anarchy. The boys turned from innocent, proper English school boys to wild savages due to the absence of civilization.

3. Golding’s tone was rather somber, but neutral. Golding never hinted that he agreed more with Ralph on one thing and with Jack on another; he remained an impartial observer. It was also somewhat informative. Not informative in a way to teach you facts and equations, more like a lecture from a mother to a child. He was teaching us a lesson from a story.

“He lost himself in a maze of thoughts that were rendered vague by his lack of words to express them. Frowning, he tried again.

This meeting must not be fun, but business.”

“But a came down from the world of grown-ups, though at the time there was no child awake to read it. There was a sudden bright explosion and corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars.”

“Even if he shut his eyes the sow’s head remained like an after-image. The half-shut eyes were dim with infinite cynicism of adult life. They assured Simon that everything was a bad business.”

4. Symbolism – Lord of the Flies was filled with symbols. The sow’s head symbolized the devil; the passing of Simon represented the death of innocence and civility in the boys, etc.

Descriptive Paragraphs – Golding also used long, graphic paragraphs for what was going on. He put the reader in the character’s shoes, so you could visualize what they were doing, what they were feeling, etc.

Allegories – This was obviously the biggest literary device Golding used in his novel. Every single one of his character represented something: Ralph stood for the good and civilization they all yearned for, Jack represented the evil that resulted from lack of society, Simon signified the innocence and good in people and so on and so forth.

Metaphors - Golding often uses metaphor in this book. In fact, all symbolism is a type of metaphor since they compare two unlike things. Other metaphors in the book was when Golding described the choir boy at the beginning of the book as a dark creature crawling along the sand.

Syntax – Golding write in simple, easy to read sentences. They are filled with description and action, but they are not difficult to read.

“’I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”

“Ralph stirred uneasily. Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame.”

“It was dark; there was that — that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We were scared!”

[lwongrhsenglitcomp]

Literature Analysis #6: Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger (A Collaboration)

Check out Rachel Shedd's blog for the odd number questions! 

2. The major theme of the novel is the idea of avoiding relationships in order to protect oneself from what Holden would call, the “phoniness” of the adult world. Holden not only isolates himself from people around him, but from his own problems. Subsequently, he hurts himself more by ignoring his own pain and emotions as the novel progresses. It’s hard growing up, and Holden struggles with maturity and the “phoniness” of it all. We alienate ourselves in order to try and protect ourselves, but by doing so we cut off all sources of happiness as well. Salinger makes a point to show how we can often be demeaning towards something we don’t like so we can convince ourselves that we hate it or don’t need it; much like Holden’s view of the world. But facing reality is not pretending it’s one thing in order to justify things which is all a part of growing up.

4. Literary Devices:

Allusion: "If a body catch a body coming through the rye." This quote and the novel’s title itself allude to the poem “Coming thro’ the Rye” by Robert Burns. The allusion helps us see one of Holden’s many misunderstanding; the greater idea that Holden seems to believe in something that is not true. He believes the poem is about the innocence of children when it’s really about sex.

Symbolism:  "I shoot people in this hat." Holden’s hat is a symbolic defense mechanism he uses to show that he is different from everyone else. It sticks out in New York and it’s his way of differentiating himself. But it also represents the innocence of his sister, and dead brother Allie; it’s a way for Holden to connect himself to the innocence of childhood and forget the realities of maturity.      

Metaphor: "He bored me to death. Living with him was like living in a museum. It was drafty, full of vast open spaces and slippery floors." The use of Holden’s many strange metaphors only further points out his strange outlook on life. His view on life is cynical at times, and disconnected; he wants to hate the world and believe he is right. We are also given more opening into his mind and though process by learning the way he interprets things

 Point of View: “Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” Holden’s first person narration is important because he isn’t all that reliable. His stories often change, and you get the sense that he changes the story every time he feels the need to protect himself. So as the reader, you cannot trust the exact story he is telling us, but respond accordingly to his reactions in order to find truth.

Similes:  “He put my goddamn paper down then looked at me like he’d just beaten hell out of me in ping-pong or something.” The similes’ purpose is similar to the metaphors’; it gives us more wild haired statements from Holden to show his unique thoughts.

Hyperbole: "It's really ironical, because I'm six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head–the right side–is full of millions of gray hairs. I've had them ever since I was a kid. And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve." Holden’s hyperboles show his immaturity; despite the fact that he thinks he is better than the adults. It shows his true youthfulness, and that he really is just a kid trying to grow up. He wants to make himself seem as if he’s lived through a lot, when he actually hasn’t; he is just lost.

Bildungsroman: “Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round...All the kids tried to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she's fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it is bad to say anything to them.” Holden is growing up and finally trying to grasp the true reality, not his own cynical perception of the adult world. By the end of the novel we are just seeing Holden begin to understand the world from a different perspective at his breaking point.

Setting: “I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go? I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away.”  New York is constantly changing and moving, just like Holden is. But it also is known as an “urban jungle” he place that Holden finds himself lost in, and presents him with many different opportunities.  What happens to the ducks in such cold weather, Holden asks. This is symbolic of the world that Holden see’s is so hostile, but he cannot figure out how to escape.

Motif: “People are always ruining things for you.” There is a common motif that people are most likely phony, and few people are good and innocent in Holden’s mind. This allows us to see the disconnect between Holden and the world; hence the idea of isolation.

Diction: “Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it.” Salinger’s use of words like “phony” and “sexy” so the immaturity of Holden. This word choice is important to the novel because Holden is young, and he speaks like a young person, but he tries to be something he is not.

Characterization:

2. There is a change in diction when different characters are spoken about from Holden’s perspective. He speaks more highly of his younger sister than he does of any of the adults in his life because she is more “pure” that those people he finds to be phony. Holden speaks more desperately about his brother:

“I know he's dead! Don't you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can't I? Just because somebody's dead, you don't just stop liking them, for God's sake--especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that're alive and all.” 

And makes subtle insults when speaking about other characters:

“I wouldn't exactly describe her as strictly beautiful. She knocked me out, though.” 

Salinger does so in order show how Holden respects people differently, and show what true values he has. What does he really long for, and who does he not want to become.

4.  I particularly liked Holden, I feel like if Holden ever did want a friend, we could be. We share a similar outlook on life and are pessimistic individuals. We had problems trusting the adult world, because let’s face it, the world is pretty harsh and unforgiving. One of my favorite lines is “I can be quite sarcastic when I’m in the mood.” Which is almost always for me, and I think a lot of people would agree that we use sarcasm to cover up what we really want to say. This novel is so popular with young viewers because we can connect to Holden’s coming of age, and are worried about the horrors of adulthood. So yes, I do feel like I met a character because I connected with him; as would many young readers and maybe even adults who remember what it was like growing up. 

[lwongrhsenglitcomp]

Literature Analysis #5: The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

1. Jake Barnes is working in Paris as a journalist post WWI, who is friends with American expatriate, Robert Cohn and his girlfriend Frances Clyne. In reality, they are more “frenemies” than actual friends, yet they continue to party and socialize with one another. One night at a club, Jake runs into Lady Brett Ashley, an English socialite whom he is madly in love with (but is more a selfish ditz) since he met her during WWI when she treated him.  Brett hints at loving him, but her lifestyle is far too free and independent for her to want to ever give it up (plus she can't have sex with him). Even Cohn begins to fall for Brett; although he is not to found of the idea that she has plans to marry a Scottish war veteran Mike Campbell.  Brett makes plans to leave for San Sebastian, and claims distance from Jake will be good for both of them.

Weeks later, while Cohn and Brett are off traveling, another American war veteran friend, Bill Gorton, comes to Paris. Bill and Jake then make plans to go fishing in Spain and then meet Cohn on the way to a fiesta in Pamplona. On his way, he runs into Brett and Mike, who join them in Spain. Brett tells Jake that she and Cohn were in San Sebastian together.

Once in Spain, and Brett and Mike fail to show up, Bill and Jake leave to go fishing while Cohn stays behind. After a few days they hear from them and return to Pamplona to meet them. There a series of events occur where Mike gets jealous of Brett, and Brett leaves him for a young Spanish bull fighter. Cohn and Mike fight, then Cohn also fights with Jake and Mike (knocking them out), but after Jake finds him in bed, a crying mess, he forgives him. However, Romero could not forgive Cohn for also beating him up.

In the end, Brett leaves with the bull fighter, only to call Jake to her rescue yet again in Madrid. He goes to her, and Brett says that they could have had a wonderful time together, while Jake responds that its “pretty to think so”. 

2. The theme of the novel is the idea of excess, and disillusionment with the world. All the characters seem to aimlessly wander around, uncaring about each other, yet caring too much at the same time. They act happy, but actually aren't. They surround themselves with people who are equally as strange and disregard each others emotions. They float around to great places but discontent seems to follow. The ending of the novel fits this idea, because while Brett says they could be happy together, Jake realizes it's "pretty to think so". Similar to how it would be nice to think about how "happy" they are in real life, but it's all a facade. 

3. The tone is somber and nostalgic of what could have been. 

“Oh Jake," Brett said, "We could have had such a damned good time together." Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly, pressing Brett against me. Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?” 

They are all searching for something aimlessly, and they don't even know what they are looking for. 

“You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”

“I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it.” 

4. Literary Techniques

Characterization: “She was looking into my eyes with that way she had of looking that made you wonder whether she really saw out of her own eyes. They would look on and on after every one else's eyes in the world would have stopped looking. She looked as though there were nothing on earth she would not look at like that, and really she was afraid of so many things.” Hemingway's characters are all described to be eccentric of beautiful, but there is something inherently wrong in them because of what the war. It adds to the somber mood of the novel. 

Conflict: “I know you're right. I'm just low, and when I'm low I talk like a fool.” Brett acts as the central point of drama, but the deeper conflict is internal. They want to be happy, but cannot be because they merely are a shell of a person.

Deus ex Machina: "Romero had the old thing, the holding of his purity of line through the maximum of exposure, while he dominated the bull by making him realize he was unattainable, while he prepared him for the killing.”  Romero is key because he wraps up the end of the story by "taking" Brett away, so yet again, Jake can save her. 

Diction: “The road to hell is paved with unbought stuffed animals” Hemingway chooses many words which create a nostalgic and somber tone. 

Allusion: “You are all a lost generation." This alludes to Gertrude Steins famous words, which pretty much sums up the novel. 

Foil: “It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.” Romero is opposite to all the characters, perfect and put together. Bringing to light how lost the characters are in their lives. 

Irony: "Romero never made any contortions, always it was straight and pure and natural in line. The others twisted themselves like cork-screws, their elbows raised, and leaned against the flanks of the bull after his horns had passed, to give a faked look of danger. Afterward, all that was faked turned bad and gave an unpleasant feeling. Romero’s bull-fighting gave real emotion, because he kept the absolute purity of line in his movements and always quietly and calmly let the horns pass him close each time. He did not have to emphasize their closeness." It's ironic that Brett chooses to go back to her dysfunctional life when the "perfect" man is in front of her.

Negative Capability: “Isn't it pretty to think so.”  We aren't exactly sure what happens to all the characters in the end, and if Brett really goes back to Mike. Or what happens to Jake. It adds to the aimlessness of the novel. 

Setting: “Cheer up,' I said. 'All countries look just like the moving pictures.”

“The grain-fields went up the hillsides. Now as we went higher there was a wind blowing the grain.” Even in the most beautiful of places, people are vastly unhappy. 

Foreshadowing: “The bulls are my best friends." I translated to Brett. "You kill your friends?" she asked. "Always," he said in English, and laughed. "So they don't kill me.”  Hinting at the idea that the characters ruin their relationships before they themselves can be hurt. 

Characterization - 

1. Direct: "Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slip-over jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy's. She started all that."

"She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey.” 

Direct characterization is used to emphasize the materialistic attitudes the characters have, since they only like to look at what is on the surface. 

Indirect: “Everybody behaves badly," I said. "Give them the proper chance.” 

“This is a hell of dull talk...How about some of that champagne?”

Indirect characterization is used to imply how the characters seem to always avoid their problems by turning from serious conversations often and showing how they either don't care, or are lost and unwillingly to try and change the way they think. 

2. The author's syntax does change, and when looking back on the quotes I have already posted, we can see a difference in the way characters like Brett and Romero are described. Romero is more put together and clean; "perfect" with the concise way he is written, and Brett is more unique and spontaneous sounding based on the way she is written. 

3. Jake is most definitely static. By the end of the novel he is still falling back into routine with Brett, and not moving on with his life.

4. I feel like I did not meet any of these characters because in all honesty, there are superficial and fake individuals who all have problems they are unwilling to face. They are upset but keep finding themselves in situations where they know the outcome, and yet still seem surprised when it happens. Frustrating and annoying. Everything happens quickly and you don't get the chance to even know any of the characters on a deeper level, aside from brief moments of clarity. 

[lwongrhsenglitcomp]

Literature Analysis #4: A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

A Collaboration!

Check out the rest of the answers on Kylie, Jacob, Kristen, and Kendall's blogs!

3) The tone of this novel is rather grim and sentimental. Often we see moments where all the characters are running from something their past, or trying to forget what horrid things had happened. “Not knowing how he lost himself, or how he recovered himself, he may never feel certain of not losing himself again.” 

Dr. Manette is traumatized from his time spent in prison, and his shoe making habit is a coping mechanism that soothes him. Darnay wishes his ancestry to remain unknown, and in the end he almost pays for it. There is a sense of pain in all of this that makes the tone have an essence of desperation. “Since I knew you, I have been troubled by a remorse that I thought would never reproach me again, and have heard whispers from old voices impelling me upward that I thought were silent forever. 

The grim setting in which this all happens is the French Revolution. Be-headings and violent murders. “Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death; - the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” 

Characterization:

3) Sydney Carton, the most dynamic character of the novel changes from the beginning to end, making the ultimate sacrifice. At the beginning of the novel Sydney is a drunk and lost in life - lacking ambition. But his unrequited love for Lucie has him clinging onto a dream that saves him from his rut. Her belief in him as well helps him move on, and begin again. This idea of "resurrection" played a huge role from the start, and each character seeks this. Sydney's resurrection is ironic in a sense because he dies, but his turn around from drunken lawyer to brave is profound. He is willing to give his life for the happiness of the one he loves, and knowing she will be happy is enough for him. 

“Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you.” 

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” 

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Literature Analysis #3: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

I chose to read this book because even though I have a good understanding of the plot (I have seen both movies), we never got the chance to actually read the book. Often there is a difference between experiencing a book and a movie, and because I liked the movie, I thought it was time to read the novel! Click the read more link below for my answers. 

1) The short and condensed version of this novel is of a man that everyone knows, yet at the same time does not actually know who he is.

Gatsby is a man of extreme wealth, lavish parties, and a mystery to all. It may be strange that a man would throw grand parties, yet never make an appearance, but as the novel progresses we learn that the parties were only thrown in hopes of attracting an old love; Daisy Buchanan. Daisy had left Jay when they were young, and he was a solider in war. She was rich, he was poor - an impossible relationship. But after years of trying to make himself worthy, and with the help of Daisy's  visiting cousin, Nick Carraway, there is a chance for them. The problem? Daisy is married to Tom, and has children of her own. She has a whole other life with another (cheating) man. This does not stop them from reuniting, and our narrator, Nick, tells us their story through his eyes. The evolution of the characters around him spurs a change in Nick as well. His thoughts begin to change and we see a different side to him. 

Ultimately the ongoing affairs of Tom and Daisy end in tragedy. Myrtle, Tom's mistress, is hit by a car driven by a crazed Daisy who had been confronted  in front of the entire group one day in New York City about her affair. Myrtle's husband George, is lead to believe that it was Gatsby who had killed Myrtle, and he seeks revenge by shooting Gatsby dead.

The author is able to fulfill the purpose of this novel by writing a story that comes full circle essentially. This story captures the idea of mad love, and the illogical, unhealthy, and sometimes dangerous behavior that comes along with it. Nick is the one moral standing character at the end of the novel who recognizes the corruption that surrounds him, and manages to escape. But the the Buchanan's essentially leave the situation unscathed despite the death of someone they cared about; ending them right where they began. In a way Gatsby came "full circle" not only in death, but he began his journey for Daisy, and he died for Daisy and her mistakes. 

2) The theme of this novel is closely related to the purpose of pointing of the irrationality and foolishness that love can bring; more specifically, obsessive love. In some ways Fitzgerald expresses this idea by showing how perhaps the all consuming love that Gatsby has for Daisy is more a fixation and true love. Gatsby was willing to do anything for her and give anything to her. He expected too much and held on too tight. this combination with Daisy's unreliability brought an end to his dreams. Gatsby held onto his dream, not letting time change the end result in his mind; he only saw one ending for his life. A fool in love essentially. Similarly, Myrtle dies for her longing for Tom, and she clings to him as her last hope for the life she always wanted. She stepped in front of that car out of desperation, the rational part of her mind completely irrelevant. Falling "madly in love" has a completely different meaning in this novel. 

3) The tone of this novel is almost wasteful; wasteful in the sense of wasted love, feelings, and hope. There is an extreme sense of excess and loss of innocence in this story. 

“I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Daisy often says wispy little things that carry a sense of solemnity; her emotions guarded and lost to what she thought she was supposed to do. Which was to stay with Tom and leave Gatsby in the end. She left behind her past so she could have stability basically. In some ways she longs to have more meaning in her life, but whether or not she shut off her feelings, or she is simply shallow is open to interpretation.

“You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.” The characters often try to run from the problems in their life, avoiding them until the very last minute. But instead of dealing with them. they let it build, and build until they have no other choice but to face the crushing force of their mistakes and emotions. 

“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” This quote directly portrays the tone of the novel. The simplicity of one statement, yet the gravity of a much heavier one. The characters watch their lives fall a part and do nothing about it. 

4) Literary Devices:

-  Symbolism: "A single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of a dock."  This quote is symbolic of Gatsby's love and dreams; visible, but just out of reach. It represents the hopeless love and longing that Gatsby feels, yet he continues to try and tell himself that it can happen.

- Imagery: "This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight."  There are many quotes which paint a vivid image in the readers mind that bring us into the lavish life Gatsby, and the Buchanan's. It is rich with beauty and on the outside looks perfect, but in reality there are many secrets and lies beneath the surface. 

- Characterization: “His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” In this quote we see the love sick side of Gatsby, and how much he was truly in love with her in those moments where his obsession had not taken over. We see him at peace and truly happy. We understand more about how much Gatsby loves Daisy and it makes it more clear as to why he did the things he did. 

- Setting: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” The lavish settings of this novel is important because similar to the vivid imagery. it sets the reader up for the a visual of a seemingly perfect place to live, yet it is filled with excess and trouble. 

- Diction: “I was within and without. Simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”  The word choice made by Fitzgerald is important because he often chooses words that are "pretty" and then words that are opposite of them to create a contrasting idea. 

- Foreshadowing: “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.”  This is one of the first lines of the novel, and it essentially foreshadows a situation that Nick will be faced with; one where he will need to keep his criticisms at bay and take deep consideration in his opinions. 

- Hubris: “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” Gatsby has a fatal flaw; his unbreakable dream to be with Daisy. He spent most of his life dreaming up a perfect life for himself and Daisy that he failed to alter his plan when it was clear that his dream could not happen exactly as planned. 

- Irony: “Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!”  It's ironic that it is Gatsby's love that brought him such happiness and got him to the place he's at now, and it also ended up killing him. 

- Metaphor: “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” Fitzgerald uses many metaphors through the story, creating beautiful comparisons and meaning out of the smallest of things.

- Tragedy: “Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.” It is obviously tragic that both Gatsby and Myrtle die. It is somewhat expected, but not any less tragic in the end. Especially since Gatsby dies expecting a call from Daisy, and feeling so full of hope. 

Characterization:

1) Direct: “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” The bluntness of this statement comes off very blatant, and obvious. It is so honest and true that the reader instantly believes it and sees it as an understatement. 

"Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered “Listen,” a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.” This quote also shows the beauty of Fitzgerald's writing as he describes his characters. He gives the reader and established base of character, and then allows them to make other judgments based on indirect characterization. 

Indirect: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther ... And one fine morning ---”  In this particular quote we begin to understand the way Gatsby thinks. His mind clings to the things that most people would let go, but he keeps a tight grip on what he wants while others let it float on by. 

“So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight - watching over nothing.” Similarly, in this quote we see the contemplative mind that Gatsby has. He can be staring at nothing, and yet his mind can be deeply trained in thoughts. Also showing how he lets his mind run away with things often.  

2) Fitzgerald's syntax and diction does not really change from character to character. He often uses the same flowery speech and words for many of his characters.  “The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain.” and “For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened - then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk.”  share the same lyrical sounding descriptions even though they are making two different points/descriptions. 

3) The protagonist in this story is Nick, even though the story centers around Gatsby and Daisy's love. Nick is a round character for sure; he evolves throughout the story. The corruption he sees while on Long Island changes him, and acts as a wake-up call. He is able to recognize that this is not the life he would ever want to live, and after witnessing two deaths, he cannot be a part of it anymore. We see him care for Gatsby as a friend, and also see him disappointed in Daisy, and he even played a role in what happened to both of them. He was the one who acted as catalyst to their dangerous affair, and from there it only grew to the point where he couldn't help but watch as a helpless bystander. While he looks back on his time there as a solemn experience, he also leaves there no longer the innocent young man he once was. He was forced to watch corruption from the front lines. 

4) Nick's narration definitely made me feel like I had just heard him tell me a story about a time of summer fun, and tragedy. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.” From the very beginning we get a sense of storytelling, and the way that Nick describes his story, and also Gatsby's is compelling and entrancing. I may not be Nick's best friend, but I get the feeling that I just sat down to a very interesting story with him.