The Poor Relation by Charles Dickens and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber – Compare the Treatment of a “Fictitious World” by Both Authors
The Poor Relation by Charles Dickens and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber - Compare the Treatment of a "Fictitious World" by Both Authors In both The Poor Relation and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the main story revolves around the main character's tendency to live in a fantasy world. In this way the two short stories are very similar. However, the way the two authors, Dickens and Thurber, have treated this main theme is quite different. Firstly, the two stories are not the same. In The Poor Relation, Dickens has told the pitiful and yet undeserving story of a poor relative who's life has mostly been a disaster, though which he has lost everything, including his friends and companions. The story is set in the 19th Century, at a middle-class family's gathering. The "poor relation" stands up and tells his "story". He starts by reminding the family about what they have seen of his life. He then goes on to claim that this is not the truth and that his real life is far different to anything they could have imagined. This is when he explains about this real life in great detail. However, Dickens adds a twist in the end. It turns out that the poor relation's claim that he leads a secret life is actually false and it is simply his fantasy life; the life he wished he had led. His real life was in fact the one he had described at the beginning, a
The two Rivers
THE TWO RIVERS (Veronica by Adewale Maja-Pearce) Okeke and Veronica had been friends since they were little. Although they grew up together in the same "native" village, veronica's family is poorer than Okeke's, as the following quotation shows: "Her family had been even poorer than mine." This suggests that both of them are trapped by the power of poverty but Veronica's family is considerably worse of than his. Veronica loves and cares for her family very much. This is one of the reasons why she didn't leave for the city for Okeke. She did not wish to leave behind her family as the following quotation shows: "'I can't just leave my family.' 'Why not?' 'They are my family, that's enough.'" This line expresses how Veronica feels about her family, choosing them over a chance of a lifetime, which Okeke had offered her. She led her life taking orders from her brutal father and from an early age, he beats her, as the following quotation shows: "Night after night I lay awake listening to Veronica's screams." Veronica is very weak, just like her mother, and could not stand up to the power of her father. If Veronica had been a male, her father would not have beaten her. Despite this, she still cares for him and the rest of her family deeply, as she says: "I just can't leave my family." Veronica's family was always very important to her. When Okeke came back after ten years and found
Film review of Alfonso Cuaron's Great Expectations.
You have to give a film maker credit for exhibiting the necessary chutzpah to take one of the most beloved classics in the English language, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, and transform it into a modern-day morality play/romance. Viewers who approach this motion picture with the mistaken expectation that it's going to be the kind of rigorously faithful adaptation that David Lean produced in 1946 are likely to be disappointed. Nevertheless, while Alfonso Cuaron's Great Expectations falls considerably short of being a definitive interpretation of the novel, it still offers an entertaining two hours. Great Expectations is considered by many to be Dickens' finest novel. It is certainly among his darkest, even with the less-downbeat ending that the author's friends prompted him to include. Like Oliver Twist before it, Great Expectations draws heavily from events in the writer's own life, which in part explains its believability and strength of character. One of the book's chief themes - that of a poor boy crossing class barriers to pursue the girl of his dreams - offered Cuaron (A Little Princess) and writer Mitch Glazer their biggest challenge. With the setting changed from 19th century England to contemporary Florida and New York, the social scale of Victorian England lost its validity. Surprisingly, however, the story survived the transition relatively unscathed. Even
How does Dickens use setting to convey the mood in the opening chapters of Great Expectations?
How does Dickens use setting to convey the mood in the opening chapters? The opening chapters of any novel are key in introducing the reader to the storyline. There are numerous ways in which to attach the reader early on in, and to, the novel. The opening chapters are where the reader will become acquainted with key characters, become involved in the characters' lives, and get an overall feeling/mood about the novel. It is important that these opening chapters, then, are skilfully written so that the reader becomes involved in all aspects of the novel to come. The main settings in the opening chapters of Great Expectations are that of the churchyard, Pip's home, and the marshes. Each of these settings deliver a sombre mood, which is especially evident in those settings based outside. This is because the wide-open spaces are harsher than those inside, and Pip is less familiar with them. The external world also offers Dickens to experiment with the idea of Pip being afraid of things he cannot see, and therefore gives Pip an unsettled feeling, which is passed on to an involved reader. Dickens begins Great Expectations with Pip at his family's gravestones in the churchyard. Despite the fact the scene is largely about death, the mood is briefly lifted by Pip's light-hearted description of the graves before him. This informs us that Pip has experienced loss and death at an early
Discuss how Dickens creates sadness in Book the Second
Discuss how Dickens creates sadness in Book the Second Book the Second is called "The Reaping", which is another biblical reference going on from "The Sowing". This comes from Galatians 6:6-18 "As you sow so shall you reap". The meaning of this is that a persons deeds, whether good or bad will repay them in kind. How a parent "sows" or in other words brings up their child will be shown in how they "reap" or rather how they grow up. The book centres on how the characters grow as individuals are given certain situations to deal with, which is often very sad and emotional given the "hard times" which they experience. Dickens use of emotive language also influences the sorrow within the book. Stephan Blackpool's life is full of anguish and sorrow which cries out for sympathy from the reader. He is married to a drunken "monster" of a woman who takes his money and spends it on drugs. He has "no way out" of this relationship without committing a felony and loves a woman named Rachel who, with the use of religious terminology "she looked as if she had a glory shining round her head" and gentle features "delicate", "irradiated", "gentle eyes", seems to be an "angelic" woman. He cannot however marry her as he is already in a marriage which he cannot get out of. In chapter four "Men and Brothers", Dickens describes the United Aggregate Tribunal, a union at Stephan's work against
The Structural Aspects of Zab'i Naka
The Structural Aspects of Zab'i Naka By: Laura Gintz The structural elements of proverbs, repetition, and interruption are the principal artistic characteristics in Munir Muhammad Katsina's Zab'i Naka. Both of these facets work together and combine to transform this story from something ordinary to something extraordinary. They cause this piece to produce meaning and emotion. There are numerous proverbs in Zab'i Naka. They tend to force the reader into the story and make it apply to his or her own life. For instance, the proverb "A suit of armor cannot even prevent the arrow of fate from finding its mark" makes me reflect on my life. It causes me to think about how some of the events in my life were bound to happen, no matter what I tried to do to prevent their occurrence. The proverbs throughout the story have a similar effect on me, the reader. They draw me into the story and compel me to relate them to my life. The proverbs also startle and interrupt the tale. The reader is going along reading the narrative, and then all of a sudden, the author interjects with a proverb out of the blue. It is an authorial intrusion, and the author is all of a sudden right in the reader's face. The proverb tends to pull the reader in and make him or her think about it in the context of the story. For example, the story is discussing the situation in the hospital where the poor
“A Christmas Carol Is Nothing More Than A Children’s Fairytale?” How Far Do You Agree With This Statement?
"A Christmas Carol Is Nothing More Than A Children's Fairytale?" How Far Do You Agree With This Statement? If one was to read Christmas Carol it can be arguably interpreted as having some characteristics of what a children's fairytale would contain. If one was to analyse what was a children's fairytale it would contain things such as; it being a short story, a happy ending, being set in a land of make believe, stereotype good versus evil approach, a simple plot, simple language, character caricatures, themes of the supernatural and the most important is that it would contain a morale. However if one was to interpret the Christmas Carol and start to analyse the varied language structures of metaphors, similes and imagery this novella becomes far from a simple fairytale but a stunning piece of literature. The Christmas Carol does have some elements of a fairytale such as a simple plot in which an old miser is visited by four supernatural beings and manages to change in the course of a night into a warm human being. The Christmas Carol is also arranged quite simply in the fact that for each visit by the Ghost represents a chapter. The Christmas Carol ends happily with Scrooge saying 'the spirits of all three shall strive within me', which shows a clear characteristic to a fairytale. The third phantom ghost who visits Scrooge is probably the most heavily caricatured character
Write a comparison between Roald Dahl's 'The Hitchhiker' and the opening chapter of Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations'.
Write a comparison between Roald Dahl's 'The Hitchhiker' and the opening chapter of Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations'. Both writers stories were published. Charles Dickens' stories appeared in the newspaper, and Roald Dahl's stories were shown on television in a series called 'Tales of the Unexpected', consisting of short stories that he had written. Although the stories were written in completely different centuries, they still have a few similarities. Firstly, both stories feature one person who stands out - Pip in 'Great Expectations' and the Narrator in 'The Hitch Hiker'. Secondly, both of the stories are based around a criminal, although the criminal in 'Great Expectations' seems much more of a threat to the protagonist than the fingersmith in 'The Hitch Hiker'. The first chapter of 'Great Expectations' and 'The Hitchhiker' are based around the same idea. Firstly, there is a character who you are supposed to get acquainted with. Pip is the main character in 'Great Expectations', and the Narrator is the main character in 'The Hitchhiker'. But the differences are clear when you get further into the stories. In 'Great Expectations' the criminal is made to look evil, and says things to intimidate Pip. One example is when the criminal says, "Keep still you little devil, or I'll cut your throat!" This proves that this man is evil, because he would cut Pip's throat,
Compare Oliver Twist and The Catcher in the Rye exploring how the authors portray the main characters and the dangers they face. How do their narrative styles differ?
Compare Oliver Twist and The Catcher in the Rye exploring how the authors portray the main characters and the dangers they face. How do their narrative styles differ? Oliver Twist was written by Charles Dickens and published between 1837 and 1838 in a monthly magazine called "Bentleys Miscellany". It was published in parts of 3 or 4 chapters every month. It was written about a poor, 9-year-old boy who has to survive in a harsh, Victorian England. Using Oliver Charles Dickens often criticises Victorian society, especially the poor laws. Oliver also has to survive losing his innocence on the mean streets of London and this is where the first similarity with the Catcher in the Rye comes in. Written by J.D Salinger and published between 1945 and 1946 the book is about a 16-year-old boy who is stuck between childhood innocence and adult corruption. All through the book he can't stop thinking about how children start innocent but as they see more of the world, they lose that innocence to adulthood. In Dickens' book Oliver is portrayed as the young, innocent little boy caught up in the dark underbelly of Victorian London. He has to try and simply stay alive in the book at times such as when he is shot and when he has to walk to London with almost no food. He never comes to be corrupted himself though and really only used as a tool to look around at the kind of society the poor had
Dickens utilizes language to present his characters in 'Great Expectations'. The key female character is Miss Havisham who I consider has endured extremely in her life. Her dress is described as 'trodden ragged', which suggests she also was badly treated.
Dickens utilizes language to present his characters in 'Great Expectations'. The key female character is Miss Havisham who I consider has endured extremely in her life. Her dress is described as 'trodden ragged', which suggests she also was badly treated. Dickens portrays Miss Havisham using the theme of deterioration, by writing that she had 'shrunk to skin and bone', and 'her stockings were once white now yellow'. This also indicates that Miss Havisham is frozen in time and can't get over what happened to her long time ago. Dickens writes that Miss Havisham has 'withered' and her body has a 'collapsed form', which is 'corpse like' because she has not repositioned herself since she got rejected on the day of her marriage. In consequence of lack of movement her muscles are deteriorating. Her body is 'stooped', which also shows deterioration, because for a long time her body hasn't moved, and her back has curved due to this. Dickens also conveys Miss Havisham through the theme of loss. For example, Miss Havisham's clothes are 'grave clothes', which have 'lost' their 'lustre' and have 'no brightness left'. This informs me that the clothes have been worn out and the 'grave clothes' suggest that she has lost someone close to her and hasn't got over it. The flower also had 'no brightness left' in it and she has been wearing it for so long that its colour has faded as well. Pip