Characters in 'Living Well is the Best Revenge'.
A.Nicole Kwilos Dr. Price English 3371 25 April 2004 Characters in Living Well is the Best Revenge Living Well is the Best Revenge, by Calvin Tomkins, is a biography on the extravagant life of Gerald and Sara Murphy. The book discusses the many famous people that were friends with the Murphys while they were living in France. The book goes into a lot of detail about the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, his family and their relationship with the Murphys. Fitzgerald was intrigued by the Murphys and their life style; he wrote a book, Tender is the Night, which Fitzgerald says "was inspired by Sara and [Gerald], and the way I feel about [the Murphys] and the way [they] live" (Tomkins 4). Both of the Murphys did not care for the book and Sara, "who was rather offended by [the book], said once that she rejected categorically "any resemblance to us or to anyone we knew at the time" (5). However years later Gerald re-read the book and realizes that much of the book events were taken right from their lives back then. Much of Living Well is the Best Revenge is dedicated to disproving Tender is the Night. The characters Nicole and Dick Driver do however bear a strong resemblance to the Murphys although there is some exaggeration and poetic license taken with the characters. Sara, in Living Well is the Best Revenge, is described as a delicate beauty with golden hair. She was
Compare and contrast the way male characters have been portrayed by Chopin and Gaskell in their stories.
Compare and contrast the way male characters have been portrayed by Chopin and Gaskell in their stories It is intriguing that both Gaskell and Chopin seem to have similar views on men, which is shown in their stories. I have concentrated on Désirée's Baby by Kate Chopin and The Half Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell. The men in these stories are portrayed as imperious and demanding and generally are shown as the "villains" in a negative light. The main male character in Désirée's Baby is Armand who is first shown in a positive light and is described as being "passionately in love" with Désirée. This is a very typical characteristic of Chopin and Gaskell's stories. At the beginning the men are described in this way and often the reader will find that they are drawn to the male characters much more than the women. This love is cleverly disguised, as there are several references to Armand's impulsive nature. Even at the beginning of the story Armand's sudden love for Désirée is described as "as if struck by a pistol shot." This metaphor shows that his impulsive reactions have a certain hidden danger, which could be quite cruel and harsh. Armand's possible cruelty is expressed subtly again in a description of L'Abri, the family home. "Negroes had forgotten to be gay," as if Armand's rule was so strict and terrifying that there was no room for happiness and freedom of
Paul’s Case written by Willa Cather
Paul's Case written by Willa Cather is about a proud and confused adolescent boy Paul, who lives his imaginary life. Paul takes his daydreaming out of limits and therefore is perceived to be somewhat bizarre by others. Paul is very self oriented, impressed with money, fortune and fame. In Paul's fantasy world things are either exceptional or miserable never in the middle. Being unable to accept and see the reality of true life isolates Paul from others. To bring Paul's character closer to audience Willa Cather describes Paul in three ways: how others perceive him and what it is like to be around him; how he feels and what it is like to be him; and how he would love to feel and be seen by others. At the beginning of the story audience is introduced to Paul's character from his teacher's opinions who think he is little strange. Paul's appearance is a somewhat pretentious; he wears a carnation in his jacket and his large eyes are dilated, rather suggestive of person on drugs. Paul is seen by others as unusual and misfit and as much out of ordinary physically as mentally. Paul's confused personality confuses others around him also. People are not completely certain how to treat Paul and this is why he is outcast and mistreated. Although audience never reads about how Paul's peers treat him, it is obvious that he is afraid of his father who verbally abuses him and
Comparison and Contrast of the Main Characters in "A & P" and "Araby"
Caitlin Hargrove Professor Sterr English 2 November 2004 Comparison and Contrast of the Main Characters in "A & P" and "Araby" Mordecai Marcus defines an initiation story as one that shows "a young protagonist experiencing a significant change of knowledge about the world or himself...and this change must point or lead him toward an adult life" (1960). As seen in John Updike's "A & P" and James Joyce's "Araby," both of the main characters are confronted by situations that bring them to "thresholds of maturity and understanding." Marcus classifies initiation stories based upon one of three levels that a character passes through during their struggle towards wisdom and clarification. Although both characters from "A & P" and "Araby" make it to this passageway toward adulthood, Sammy from "A & P" passes farther through Marcus's levels of initiation than does the narrator of "Araby." Despite the narrator of "Araby's" progress, Sammy matures more after his initiation as he appreciates his struggle and lessons learned more than the character in "Araby" by accepting his fate and moving forward instead of dwelling over his circumstances and blaming others for his frustration. As Sammy grows-up in a quiet, suburban town in New England during the early 1960's, he takes on a bleak outlook of life as he becomes bored while serving his community as a cashier at the local A & P
Pearl Prynne- A Blessing And A Curse
Sugato De 0-7-01 Period 6/7 Pearl Prynne- A Blessing And A Curse "This child hath come from the hand of the almighty, to work in many ways upon her heart. It was meant for a blessing, for the one blessing of her life! It was meant, doubtless, for a retribution too, a torture to be felt at many an unthought of moment; a pang, as sting, an ever-recurring agony in the midst of a troubled joy" (Hawthorne 105). This, as Arthur Dimmesdale poignantly and almost prophetically expresses in the preliminary scenes of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, was the role of the strikingly beautiful yet fatally elfish Pearl, the child borne of his and Hester Prynne's forbidden passion. In the midst of the already troubled and sinful life of her mother, Peal is the cause of her further pain, agony and yet also of Hester's happiness and sense of worth. While forever a tormentor to her mother, Pearl was also her savior, while a reminder of her guilt, she proved to be a promoter of honesty and true virtue, and while an embodiment of her parents' worst qualities, she was the true reflection of a troubled heart. Pearl was at times a literal thorn in the flesh, bringing trouble, heartache, and frustration to her mother, yet while at the same time serving a constructive purpose lying far beyond the daily provocations of her childish impishness. Besides being Hester's savior, so to
chinese cinderella
Chinese Cinderella. Some readers might say Adeline had presented a picture of childhood which was consistently unhappy? Do you agree? Chinese Cinderella is about a young girl battling through life and many misfortunes to finally get a good future, which she gets through sheer perseverance. I believe that Adeline Yen Mah does have a terrible childhood which consists of mainly sorrowful situations; but her being an optimistic child; she is able to transform little actions into something she can find pleasure from. Therefore in this essay I will discuss how I disagree with the statement "Some readers might say Adeline had presented a picture of childhood which was consistently unhappy", as I believe that however rarely it took place there were a few happy situations. I will also try to discuss the idea of how each of these "happy" situations are transformed each time into depressing situations. The story begins with an enthusiastic child, overjoyed by the recent events where she was awarded a prize at school. She is then delighted about the fact that her dearly loved Aunt Baba would keep her certificate in the same box in which she kept her truly, valuable, possessions, as if her "award were also some precious jewel impossible to replace". Therefore I believe she did have moments of true happiness but they were short-lived as these emotions are soon distorted by the
Tragedy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles
6.6.2008 Guided Text Production SS Aija Korhonen Benjamin Wright 0620782 Term Paper Tragedy According to Tess of D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy's (1840-1928) novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891) was Hardy's attempt to take a closer look upon the ideals of his era, and through Tess and her story, criticize it. Hardy himself said of tragedy; "It may be put thus in brief: a tragedy exhibits a state of things in the life on an individual which unavoidably causes some natural aim or desire of his to end in a catastrophe when carried out." There are many ways to perceive a text as a tragedy, beginning from Aristotle who was the first to define the term and concept of tragedy as "the imitation of an action which is serious, complete and substantial" and "by evoking pity and terror it brings about the purgation of those emotions". During the Renaissance, however, the concept of tragedy experienced a reformation and was fitted to express the qualities admired by the society, and later, England during the Victorian era also reformed Aristotle's ideas to accommodate their religious as well as largely accepted social norms and views. This essay will take a closer look of those ideas at tragedy raised by Aristotle, some of the times when tragedy went through reformation, and Hardy himself, all in connection to Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles and the questions, and
Reader Response to Dorothy Butler's Cushla and Her Books.
Reader Response to Dorothy Butler's Cushla and Her Books The story of Cushla and her family is one of pain, struggle, and worry. It is also a story of strength, determination and love. I truly enjoyed reading about the difficult yet inspiring journey the family took and what they did in order to deal with the painful reality of what their little girl was going through. The story provides a message of hope to others who are dealing with similar issues and provides a wonderful example of just how strong children are. A childhood is not meant to be filled with hospital appointments and prescription drugs, however Cushla and her family accepted the life they were given and made the best of it, a challenge not anyone can commit to. Within the first few pages of the book Cushla and her family intrigued me. Cushla's mother was the exact same age as I am right now when she had her daughter. For me, the thought of having a child at this point in my life is terrifying and incomprehensible. So to try and understand how this young women and her husband had the strength, and courage to believe that they could cope with the hardships of raising a sick child is absolutely I incredible to me. No matter how many times they were told that their child was not "normal" they both did everything in their power to create a regular lifestyle for their baby girl. The family's story is an excellent
Bernard MacLaverty - More Than Just The Disease
Bernard MacLaverty - More Than Just The Disease This short story is an excellent from the Irish author Bernard MacLaverty. It is an examination of a young boy called Neil Fry who suffers from a skin condition called psoriasis and how the other characters react to, and interacts with him. My intentions for this essay are to examine how MacLaverty uses various settings to highlight different attitudes and explore the effects of such attitudes on the main character in this text. The story revolves around Neil - a young boy, whose mother is a single parent, who goes to spend part of his summer holiday with his friend Michael and his family. Michael's father is a doctor who has rented a Victorian terraced house in Scotland for the holiday. The holiday home is described as being full of collectables gathered from the owner's travels to Africa and the Far East i.e., the cupboard of "black lacquer with a yellow inlay of exotic birds." Such items may make the reader think that the owner is well-travelled and open-minded but the rest of the house is neat and orderly with a place for everything and everything in its place as typical of those times. This portrays an image of an inhibiting environment much more typical of Victorian attitudes and standards. Importantly, the house does not belong to Michael's family but is used to represent an image of the family. The garden which is
Diary entry from Desiree's baby.
Dear Diary, Today was the most dramatic and stressful day of my entire life. My life has completely collapsed in less than a day. It was me, my beloved wife Desiree and our adorable child. It seemed as if nothing could every brake the strong bond between the three of us. That's when I was wrong. When I wrongly accused Desiree of being of black origin I told her to " just go". When I saw all Desiree's and the baby's stuff burning I thought it was all over- a new start for all of us. But then when I was clearing up my draws I found a letter that I haven't seen before. Anxiously I read the letter to discover that I made the biggest mistake of my life. The blood in my veins froze, my heart turned stone cold and I couldn't breath. I was petrified. I couldn't believe my eyes. I threw out my Desiree and our lovable child, just to find out that it was ME who had the black ethnicity, not Desiree. When the baby was born my life completely changed, I changed. No longer o was the mean, demanding Armand. I was kind and loving not only to my family, but the slaves didn't feel like slaves anymore. I treated them nicely and with care. I wanted to share my happiness with the whole world. I would never think that such a little thing like a baby could change such a stubborn man like me. I think that when I said those two mean words, which had the most powerful meaning in my life. "