Greene's stories often have an ironic twist of events at the end. Discuss the effects by referring to any four short stories which rely on this technique.
Greene's stories often have an ironic twist of events at the end. Discuss the effects by referring to any four short stories which rely on this technique. Greene's notion of life as a moral drama is reflected in his treatment of death and dying in the novels. His main characters usually meet sudden and violent ends, but their aftermaths or deaths are almost always accompanied by hints of hope. Through his treatment of his characters' deaths, he makes known the nature of that great gap he finds between the actuality of life in the world, with its disappointments and limitations, and the possibility of infinite life. Greene's characteristic methods of describing death emphasize its ambiguity. He intensifies the focus of his narrative on the person for whom death is imminent. For example, at end of the short story Brother we come across a setting of danger, damage and death, typical of Greene. The context of the story is Paris during WW1. A café proprietor is afraid when six communists enter his coffee shop asking for drinks. Two of them, a man and a young lady do not speak throughout the whole account but sit in a corner of the café. The young man is severely wounded and intimacy between him and the young lady misleads the proprietor into believing them lovers but later he learns they are in fact brother and sister. In contrast to the owner is the billiard player who seems
5 Ways to Kill Man - Analysis
Five Ways to Kill a Man Edwin Brock There are many cumbersome ways to kill a man. You can make him carry a plank of wood to the top of a hill and nail him to it. To do this properly you require a crowd of people wearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloak to dissect, a sponge, some vinegar and one man to hammer the nails home. Or you can take a length of steel, shaped and chased in a traditional way, and attempt to pierce the metal cage he wears. But for this you need white horses, English trees, men with bows and arrows, at least two flags, a prince, and a castle to hold your banquet in. Dispensing with nobility, you may, if the wind allows, blow gas at him. But then you need a mile of mud sliced through with ditches, not to mention black boots, bomb craters, more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songs and some round hats made of steel. In an age of aeroplanes, you may fly miles above your victim and dispose of him by pressing one small switch. All you then require is an ocean to separate you, two systems of government, a nation's scientists, several factories, a psychopath and land that no-one needs for several years. These are, as I began, cumbersome ways to kill a man. Simpler, direct, and much more neat is to see that he is living somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, and leave him there. Edwin Brock's
In In Memoriam A.H.H. how does Tennyson discuss the experience of grief and doubt?
In In Memoriam A.H.H. how does Tennyson discuss the experience of grief and doubt? It is difficult to consider In Memoriam as a single poem, in that its different sections are linked only in their structure: their themes vary, and can be said to converge only at specific points. Yet despite this, the fragmented structure itself reflects Tennyson's incoherent mental state, consisting of antithetical ideas. It would be unfeasible to hope for a perfectly cohesive poem when the poem itself is about doubt and uncertainty. T.S. Eliot called In Memoriam, "a long poem made by putting together lyrics, which have only the unity and continuity of a diary of a man confessing himself." The petrarchan quatrains are indeed simple, but Tennyson manages to vary the language and style in such a way that his entire range of emotions is expressed easily. I feel that the uniform nature of the stanzas (quatrains are used throughout the poem) reveals two things: Tennyson's difficulty in expressing his grief, and society's scorn at his sense of loss. These ideas manifest themselves in Section 21, when he describes the writing of the poem as taking "the grasses of the grave," and making "them pipes whereon to blow." Society responds by ridiculing him, saying, "this fellow would make weakness weak,/ And melt the waxen hearts of men." Victorian society at the time was a restrictive and
Underneath Stevie Smith’s simple words and humour lie deep questions and fierce criticism
"Underneath Stevie Smith's simple words and humour lie deep questions and fierce criticism" A rather eccentric individual was Stevie Smith as her poems reflect. Her unique personality shines though out her work, demonstrating special preference for the bizarre and absurd. Smith possessed the talent of grasping serious issues of society and cloaking them in humor, while still displaying a philosophical insight into the human nature. Criticism, sarcasm and acrimony underlined all of her works and even reached beyond the confinements of her writing to become exploited continuously during conversations with her numerous friends at tea. The issue of the problematic nature of God runs throughout Smith's work. During the 19th and 20th century, the importance of a heavenly being in the daily lives of people began to fade. While not many voiced their new viewpoint about God, their interpretations of him is explained with Stevie's line of "What care I if good God be if he be not good to me" which is the preamble to the poem "Egocentric". The individual issuing that statement in the said poem reflects the ideas of these people. On the first reading of this poem, the idea that Stevie Smith is an atheist begins to germinate. In fact, many critics of Smith's religious beliefs use this poem to demonstrate their point.
comparing war poems
Post - 1900 Poetry 'Dulce et Decorum est' Wilfred Owen (1918) 'The Dead' Rupert Brooke (1914) Coursework question: Compare and contrast one First World War poem written before battle began with one poem written in the light of battle experience. Consider in particular the language used, and the different attitudes to dying for one's country, in the two poems. 'Dulce et Decorum est' written by Wilfred Owen in 1918. The poem expresses different ideas because of the writer's experience, knowledge and understanding of war. Some may say the poem is only from one mans view and Owen only speaks for himself, however, 'Dulce et Decorum est' was written in the light of the battle and has details and knowledge behind it. Owen rejects Brooke's romantic style. Owen uses many words that are ugly in texture, words like "guttering", "choking", and "drowning". These not only show how the soldier is suffering, but that he is in a terrible pain that no human being should suffer, this use of diction creates a sense of horror in the poem. The word "blood shod" also shows how the troops have been on their feet for days, not having much time to rest. This is an effective metaphor of suffering. Wilfred Owen's poem 'Dulce et Decorum est' tells us the true insanity of the First World War and how bloody it was. The aim of the poem is to also show
Trickster: Shaman of the Liminal.
Trickster: Shaman of the Liminal The Native American Trickster is a figure who defies category. He is at once the scorned outsider and the culture-hero, the mythic transformer and the buffoon, a creature of low purpose and questionable habits who establishes precedent, dabbles in the creation of the world that will be, and provides tools, food, and clothing to the people who will inhabit that world. He may assume an array of contradictory personae in the course of a single narrative, moving from one to the other with the skill of a practiced shape-shifter while tripping on his tail at every turn. Trickster creates through destruction and succeeds through failure; his mythic and cultural achievements are seldom intentional. "Defining such a various creature," writes Jarold Ramsey, "is a little like trying to juggle hummingbirds" (26). Ramsey attempts to reconcile Trickster's inconsistencies by pointing out the tendency of Native American myth-narrative to carry out "a plurality of significant and interrelated functions simultaneously" (24), and goes on to outline an inductive/deductive approach to Trickster study that is "attentive to character features and role" (27). However, any effort to arrive at a more complete definition of this most illusive of characters must eventually leave the search for definition behind. Even Ramsey's emphasis on cultural perspective and
Explore the way Wilfred Owen and Sebastian Faulks present the physical and mental suffering of soldiers in the First World War
Explore the way Wilfred Owen and Sebastian Faulks present the physical and mental suffering of soldiers in the First World War Both Sebastian Faulks in his novel 'Birdsong' and Wilfred Owen present suffering in soldiers fighting in the First World War in both physical and psychological ways. They present the discomforts that came from everyday living conditions in the trenches, they both present the serious physical injuries produced by the war and the haunting effect this has on them in the short and long term. Both writers present these things in a vivid and poignant style. The living conditions in the trenches were extremely poor, wet weather led to men living in deep mud and contracting 'trench foot'. The soldiers in the trenches would have had to live with constant shellfire; this could result in 'shell shock' where the untiring bombardment had worn away their nerves to the point of insanity. We can see an example of this in 'Birdsong' when Faulks is talking about "the spasmodic explosion of shells". We can see from the use of language here that Faulks relates to the shelling as insanity. As if the "spasmodic explosions" are not only the explosions but also fits of the men themselves. Owen also talks about the effects of 'shelling' in his poetry. We can see an example of this in 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' when Owen talks about an attack; stating; "Deaf even to the
And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None, written by Agatha Christie, is an intriguing murder mystery that finds eight people, all strangers to each other, are invited to Indian Island, off the English coast. On the island already are two people, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, the butler and housekeeper. The killer follows the lines of a poem, "Ten Little Indians", for each victim's death. Several critics claim the novel should not be considered an important literary piece because its characters are not fully developed. Through reading the novel, I discovered several very well developed characters. One character we are able to learn a lot about is Vera Claythorne. Because that she is the tenth little Indian, she lasts to the end; and, because of the setup of a good murder mystery, we get to see the many sides of a character's psyche which allows us to better interpret the characters full personality. When the novel begins Vera Claythorne is a former governess who is working as a "games mistress at a third-class school". She takes a summer job on Indian Island, believing that she has been hired to serve as a secretary to a Mrs. Una Owen. Like the other characters, Vera has a dark secret. At her last job, she was governess to a spoiled little rich boy named Cyril Hamilton. She let Cyril drown so that his relative, Hugo, would inherit his money and then be rich enough to marry her. An inquest cleared
For Heidi With Blue Hair.
For Heidi With Blue Hair. I have chosen this poem because I think the girl in the poem has a strong point and I admire her for standing up for herself. Although I don't have a personal connection with this poem as such because I have never done something so outrageous to stand up for what I think is right, I can relate to how she feels that she is constantly controlled by other people and their views. The point of the poem is dealing with independence and growing up into an individual. Heidi is becoming her own person and is learning to harness the help of others. The poem addresses the matter of authority and how much authority is reasonable. "For Heidi With Blue Hair" also shows us how important the bond between parent and child is, as without her father's help and support Heidi wouldn't have achieved her own independence. We learn from the poem that we can't get what we want if we don't fight for it and Heidi is doing exactly this. The poem is written in six stanzas each with five lines. The poem doesn't rhyme and is told from the view of a spectator to the incident that seems close to Heidi. The poet writes with a satirical wit for example "you wiped your eyes, also not in the school colours" and "the teachers twittered and gave in" it is the word "twittered" that makes us laugh a little unkindly at the teachers manner of speaking. The poet is having a dig at the
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" is an allegorical tale of horror. The Red Death is a plague which "had long devastated the country." In an attempt to avoid contracting the horrible disease, Prince Prospero invites a thousand friends to "one of his castellated abbeys." Here they are isolated from the outside world. Inside they lived in luxury and security, outside was the Red Death. In an allegorical interpretation of the story, Prince Prospero represents human happiness and good fortune. Symbolism is a vital part of the allegory; blood, the seven rooms and the clock are major examples. They help develop the theme that death holds "illimitable dominion over all." "Scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face" indicate the presence of the Red Death. Blood, the very substance of life, now is a symbol of death. Prince Prospero tries to avoid his demise by building a fortress around him. Death, like blood, may be part of everyone and can not be protected against. The Prince and all of his companions eventually die. All his attempts to protect himself prove to be in vain, as death cannot be circumnavigated. The seven rooms signify the seven stages of life, from birth to death. "The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls,
