The Catcher in the Rye
In our lives, there are many different people we meet, and all of them unique in their own way. Each and every person has their own personality, and meeting someone new can be a wonderful experience. An event like no other is meeting the protagonist from the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield. Encountering him is an experience all on its own, for he is a rare literary character. Holden is a complex character affected by the death of his brother Allie, challenged by bipolar disorder, and burdened by his self-imposed responsibility as the catcher in the rye. The life of Holden Caulfield changed forever the day his brother Allie died of leukemia. He held a special place in his heart for his younger brother, and when Allie died, Holden took a turn for the worse. His reaction to Allie's death is shocking yet understandable during a time of grief and anger. Holden admits to sleeping in the garage the next night. "I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and all." (Salinger 37) Expert analysis claims: "Ashamed of his need- a sixteen year old crying out for emotional support- and unable to accept kindness since in his guilt he feels he doesn't deserve it, Holden is locked into his grief and locked out of family and society."(Miller
The Catcher In The Rye
Many occurrences, either positive or haunting, in one's life force them to mature, but often these experiences produce fear in that adolescent, keeping them from taking the next step into life. J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye details the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, and his confrontations with death, sex, innocence, adults, and the "phoniness" of the world. These experiences mold The Catcher in the Rye into a coming-of-age novel, in which Holden's conflicts with these difficult situations and issues support the concept that Holden matured from an adolescent into an adult. Although the step into adulthood was not simple, but rather a difficult task, Holden's first wary steps into adulthood provide the framework of this prodigious novel. His maturation occurred during his time at various schools, his weekend in New York, and at home. Death presents itself as a prominent theme in the novel, and it helped Holden develop into a mature young adult. The passing of his brother, Allie, struck Holden hard, and he continuously reminisced on his memories of Allie. Holden also spoke to Allie often when he felt emotionally and physically distressed, such as when he decided to move to the sunny west as means to escape life (Unrue 109). Seeing as Allie escaped from the burdens of life, Holden found comfort in him. From Holden's point of view, Allie was immune to the
The Color Purple
THE COLOR PURPLE Discuss the dramatic impact of a key extract from 'The Color Purple'. The film, 'The Color Purple', was released in 1985 and it is based on the novel published in 1983 by Alice Walker. 'The Color Purple' won nine Oscar nominations and was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film, 'The Color Purple', tells the story of Celie from the age of 13 through to womanhood. The man she thinks is her father rapes her. She has two children who are both taken away from her. She is forced to marry an older man. He abuses her and treats her with complete disrespect. Her husband separates her from her sister and does not allow Celie to get any mail from her sister. She then meets Shug Avery and she discovers love and support of women. It took her many years to break free from the abuse of her husband and she is finally re-united with her sister and her children. The themes that are examined in the film are those of hatred through sexism and abuse, revenge and racism. Sexism is shown by the way that Celie is not treated equally. At the time the film was set, 1930's America, the man ruled the house and the woman did the housework such as; cooking, cleaning and looking after the children. Because of this, the woman would never question their husbands. Celie is the ideal example of this because Albert is the man of the house and is in charge and Celie is forced to cook
Of Mice And Men
"Of Mice and Men" Slim's Story Memories? Yeah, I've had plenty, seen men come an' go on this ranch, so many I can't hardly remember them, but two stick in my mind like it was only yesterday, but must be near on twenty years ago...oh I'm Slim, I lead the mule team, sure does beat busting a gut bucking barley...now where was I? Yeah, that's right...these two guys... Came in one Friday, Boss was sure mad 'cos they were late. You've never seen such an odd pair - George, he was small, neat, quick witted but Lennie, my was he huge! Funny thing was his name was Small! He was like a great bear and he wasn't too clever either. Funny how he and George strung along together. Anyway, they come in Friday, Boss had been given us hell all mornin'! I was out on the fields when they came out. Candy was with them and seemed to be showing them around the barn. Lennie seemed excited bout somethin'. George came over and introduced them, "Hi, I'm George and this big fella' here is Lennie." Lennie then tried whispered something to George but I heard every word, "George, George, ask him 'bout dem dogs, please George?" George looked a bit embarrassed. "Candy tells us you got some new born pups. If there's one goin' spare, you reckon Lennie could have it?" George asked. "Yeah sure you can Lennie," I said "Come by the barn later and you can pick one out." He went all shy, with a smile from ear
of mice and men
Chapter 1 The novel begins near the Salinas River, south of Soledad in the California valley. The Gabilan Mountains rise up on one side and drop to valleys on the other. The river and its banks are alive with animals and plants. A path leads to the banks of the river, and the two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small, follow this path to the river. While George is small with sharp features, Lennie is a big man with rounded features. He drags his feet when he walks, following George step for step. They are on their way to a job at a nearby ranch, and their ride has left them several miles away. It is hot and they are tired from the walk. Topic Tracking: Landscape 1 Topic Tracking: Animal (Lennie as an animal) 1 When the two men reach the water, Lennie falls to his knees and takes a long drink. George gets angry with him for drinking so fast from water that might not be good. Lennie's action and this exchange show his mental retardation. When George sits down, Lennie imitates him exactly. And when George starts to complain about how their ride left them so far from their destination, Lennie has to ask George where they are going because he can't remember. George, annoyed, reminds Lennie about where they got their jobs and their work cards, and Lennie looks in his pocket for his. Certain Lennie would lose it, George did not let him keep his card. But Lennie does
Snow Falling on Cedars.
Jayde Brindley 204h Jerry English Lit November 2003 What is the significance of the island setting and the weather in Snow falling on Cedars"? How does Guterson use the environment in which the novel is set to deepen our understanding of events? "Snow falling on cedars" is placed in the proximity of an insulated, isolated island off the coast of America. It is this seclusion that enhances the communal intimacy and inevitably the polarisation after the events of the war, especially the destruction of Pearl Harbour. The weather acts as a foundation, representing the change, alienation and blindness throughout the novel. The island, San Piedro, is self-sufficient with all of the islanders maintaining their lives by working for themselves. It shows the combination of the "closeness" of the community in contrast with the animosity and isolation that remains through judgment between races. It is the isolation of the island that is a metaphor for the isolation of the communities. "Snow fell that morning" on the first day of the trial, which is significant as the snow symbolises the duration of the trial. It is ambiguous in its representation as it is often described as "beautiful" and "rare" and "precious", allowing an insight to Ismaels' memory of his childhood with Hatsue but also gains the opposite interpretation of destruction through the "ferocious" weather
Analyse William Golding's choice of language during and after the killing of Simon. Why does the language use change?
Analyse William Golding's choice of language during and after the killing of Simon. Why does the language use change? "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" This is the chant that begins the section, increased in its violence as it now says "kill the beast" representing the feelings of the boys. They want to destroy the beast but can't find it as it is inside each of them. This causes them to get ever more angry and frenzied, starting a ritualistic "dance" with "the chant" beating "like a steady pulse". This is reminiscent of Simon's experience earlier when a "pulse started to throb in his temple", just before he went into a fit. This suggests that the boys are also going into a trance or fit, but a much more dangerous one, unaware of their actions. They lose their individuality and start "the throb and stamp of a single organism", again with the throbbing and stamping inducing images of a trance-like ritual. Also the symbolisms of circles and the weather are repeated. The circle now "yawns emptily" waiting to catch someone inside. The weather is threatening, "Thunder boomed...the dark sky was shattered...scar...blow of a gigantic whip". This is a great contrast to the clear skies earlier in the book that symbolised peace. Now they begin to become terrified by the weather and the trance and out of this terror "rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind". This is
Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers"
Essay on Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers" The film "The Killers" has been set in the town of Brentwood, New Jersey. I know this because in the beginning of the black and white version of The Killers, the two men in the car pass a sign saying this, at the bottom of the sign it says "drive carefully", maybe because it was wet and slippery. In the colour version there are two boys fighting in the beginning, they appear to be blind, I think this because the two boys point in different to each other. The two killers pass the boys and enter the Sage Home for the Blind to kill their victim. The black and white version is about the same thing but the set changes and the people change. In the black and white version one of the killers are short and fat and the other one is tall and skinny, in the colour version of The Killers the two men have a big age difference between, one is really young and the other is really old. The man behind the counter called George in the black and white version changes to a blind women acting as a secretary. There is a lot more violence used in the colour version than the black and white version. The victims name changes, in the black and white version the victims name is Ole Anderson and in the colour version it's Pete Dunn. The Killers in the black and white version are not the main people in the film but in the black and version the killers are the
Enduring Love
Winter 06 i) How does McEwan present Joe's thoughts and feelings in the extract McEwan uses a number of techniques to express Joe's thoughts and feelings portraying his feeling through the use of literary and linguistic features. The majority of the extract is declarative, for example 'I sat back in my chair gathered my notes'. Joe is expressing himself and he is able to describe his thoughts through this method. The sentences range from being short and simple such as 'Dread was too strong.' to long and complex sentences with a number of conjunctions. This variation in sentence structure shows Joe's own variation in thought, and the erratic nature of his emotions at this time. The writing is first person, this allowed the reader to feel more involved with the character and should allow a better insight into the characters thoughts. He is finding it difficult to express himself emotionally and this is summed up well with 'I couldn't find the word for what I felt'. It shows his uncertainty and makes it clear that he is emotionally out of touch. The inability to express himself adequately stems from his rational mind controlling his actions. Joe takes comfort in science and this can be seen by the number of science related statements found in this small passage alone. An example of this is 'mental-visceral' and 'diminishing pendulum movement'. His feelings are exact, and he
Enduring Love
'How does McEwan successfully engage the reader in the first chapter of 'Enduring Love?'' McEwan uses a range of techniques to successfully engage the reader in the first chapter of 'Enduring Love'. The first act of engaging the reader can in fact be seen in the first line of the book; "The beginning is simple to mark." It is a short sentence and a simple statement that makes the reader want to read on. They want to know what the beginning was and what this beginning was the start of. The sentence also makes it seem as if the beginning is still a clear image in the narrators mind and that he wants to imprint it in our minds too. As the book progresses many references are made to this first line, the beginning. Therefore this line can be seen as a crucial event in the story. Throughout chapter one, when there is a pivotal moment in the story the narrator stops describing the events and focuses on something else for a while to keep the reader in suspense. For example, on page 12 the narrator is telling us that something bad is about to happen in great detail and then he says "let me freeze the frame." The narrator stops at the most crucial point in the story keeping the reader on edge. Another technique that the author uses is to touch on a point but not expand on it in great detail tempting the reader to read on. When the author does this it gives the reader a taste of what
