Amir Vs Amir
Matt Schenk ENG 112 Kite Runner Amir Vs. Amir I would like to talk about a theme from The Kite Runner is that of Amir and his guilt, and the affects that this has on his growth throughout the book. Through the entire novel Amir not only struggles within his relationships with others but within his own self. His relationships with his family, servants and others all help to shape who he becomes and who he is at any given moment. Most prevalent of these relationships and situations is that of his fathers actions and feelings toward him, and vice versa, and also the guilt he feels for his actions toward Hassan. The Kite Runner is a story about a privileged class boy living with his father in pre-war Afghanistan. The story starts with Amir trying to gain acceptance from his father. The relationship is based on a sort of awkward avoidance and Amir constantly trying to please and be accepted by his father. His father, Baba, is a very masculine character. He is an athletic and aggressive man with strong opinions and ideas about things. Amir on the other is almost nothing like this, he is but a small, creative and weak character. Baba is often heard putting Amir down and generally being hard and cold toward him, more so than with other children even. Amir gets into scuffles with bullies and is too afraid to face them and runs away. This is entirely against Baba's feelings on how
An Analysis of Nadine Gordimer's Short Stories
Zoe Lambert 201322882 September 28th, 2011 Aesthetic Experiences and Ideas An Analysis of Nadine Gordimer's Short Stories Death is something that affects everyone and is always reoccurring. Nadine Gordimer references death in her work frequently; breaking down boundaries and stereotypes. She opens her mind on paper and tells the world as it is. She talks about subjects that are taboo, and while doing this she makes us aware of its constant presence in our lives and the world around us. In her short stories, such as "Loot" and "An Emissary", the contrast of life and death is a theme throughout each of the stories. She weaves stories about experiences that all come to an inevitable end. Life is a bunch of events that you build up for death to take it away. At the start of each story there is an unawareness of death being present. They only seem to be aware of the present, neither the past nor the future matters. The people in her stories seem to be only thinking of themselves and their actions. In "An Emissary" there is one setting where it is always summer or summer-like weather. This adds onto the lack of awareness of the presence of death, because winter is a symbol for death. I relate to these people because I often avoid the thought of death. When I actually stop to think about it I realize how much time I am wasting; this gives me anxiety, which in turn makes me
Comment on the ways in which Rhys portrays the differences between Rochester and Antoinette's cultural backgrounds in this section.
Comment on the ways in which Rhys portrays the differences between Rochester and Antoinette's cultural backgrounds in this section. In the passage, Rhys chooses to narrate the story in another point of view, allowing the reader to see the main cultural differences between the two main protagonists. Rochester is portrayed as the Englishmen who try to oppress Antoinette by bringing his English culture since he is oppressed by his lack of understanding and knowledge about the place he is in. Antoinette is portrayed as someone who is in full control but slowly looses her sense of identity due to Rochester's Anglicisation by calling her 'Bertha'. At this stage of Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester's agony of being in a foreign place is presented and that he can not seem to find any comfort, elevating the mood for complexity of the two characters' relationship. Rhys uses the cultural difference to explore about power and how this affects each character's dominance over the other. Rochester's unfamiliarity with the culture leads to Antoinette's dominance over him. When she uses imperative 'Taste', there is a sense of power and determinism. This creates an effect of Rochester's weakness which is shown when he says, 'to please her I drank'. It shows his inferiority to the lack of knowledge about the place and the culture. Not only does Antoinette dominate Rochester, but even the place
Can we critically analyse Ian McEwan's Atonement using psychoanalytic criticism?
LIT1002 Sara Williams Can we critically analyse Ian McEwan's Atonement using psychoanalytic criticism? Atonement is a post-modern novel, that centres around the protagonist, Briony and her search for forgiveness from her sister Cecelia and a family friend Robbie, the word 'atonement', meaning 'the action of making amends for a wrong or injury'1. Briony is a thirteen year old, middle class girl whom is an aspiring writer, and at the start of the novel is conducting a play known as The Trials of Arabella. We see throughout the novel Briony is no ordinary 13 year old girl as her imagination is full of stories that can distort her image of reality; this is why the method of psychoanalysis may be applied. Psychoanalysis is 'a form of therapy which aims to cure mental disorders by investigating the interaction between the conscious and the unconscious elements of the mind'2. The novel explores the relationship between the conscious events that happen, and the different subconscious views the characters have on these events all though the creative act of story-telling. The novel begins with the focus on Briony and her eagerness to get her play, The Trials of Arabella, finished for when her brother, Leon, returns home. This play shows Briony's immaturity even through her intelligent wording, it still encapsulates a heroine being rescued by a prince, and thus we can see her
Nancy Mairs Essay Synthesis of Mairs Three Essays on the Argument for the Defense of a Life of Hardship and Suffering Nancy Mairs is a writer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 28 years old.
Nancy Mairs Essay Synthesis of Mairs' Three Essays on the Argument for the Defense of a Life of Hardship and Suffering Nancy Mairs is a writer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 28 years old. Multiple Sclerosis is a condition of the central nervous system which controls the body's actions and movements and balance and in her case it was a degenerate version of the disease. After beginning to accept her disability, she discusses how the experience of her being a cripple has enlightened her to the somewhat oxymoronic benefits of living a life of pain. After reviewing the three essays from Nancy Mairs from her book Carnal Acts "Challenge: An Exploration", "Doing It the Hard Way" and "Good Enough Gifts", it is simple to see the main ideal that sieves through on these writings: that hardship is an unavoidable and essential part of every humans life but these hardships are invaluable experiences none the less. In Mairs' three essays she presents an impassioned defense of the life of hardship and suffering and I will be extracting some evidence from the essays to support her assertions. One of her arguments is the idea of spiritual growth through hardship and pain which is re-sated when she maintains that 'Disability provides ample opportunity for spiritual work and growth' (Mairs 104, Challenge: An Exploration). Through the restrictions and problems she has
Remember whose girl you are...Discuss the representation of power and control between females in Affinity
"Remember. Ruth is saying. Whose girl you are..." Discuss the representation of power and control between females in Affinity. Sarah Waters' Affinity is a gothic novel that represents the power and control between females. In order to understand how 'power' and 'control' is represented, we need to define these terms. 'Power' and 'Control' between females could suggest how particular females within the novel influence each other1, and also how women wield authority over women. 2 Waters represents the 'power' and 'control' between females when she portrays the structure of Milbank prison by exploring Jeremy Bentham's panopticism, with regards to both the prison and society. The prison's structure in the form of pentagons could suggest how the female prisoners are institutionalised. Margaret describes the prison on first entering it as a 'Lady Visitor' as It has been designed by a man in the grip of nightmare or madness - or it had been made expressly to drive its inmates mad. I think it would certainly drive me mad, if I had to work as a warder there.3 Margaret's vision of this prison as an institution built to "drive its inmates mad"4 emphasises the panopticon prison's influence over the prisoners. The prison's surveillance also illustrates the power and control between women, as the matrons monitor the prisoners through the door flaps and this creates a sense of
Discuss the language of religion in Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" and James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" in relation to one another and to the various uses of language in general, taking into account the importance of this language
Discuss the language of religion in Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" and James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" in relation to one another and to the various uses of language in general, taking into account the importance of this language in an Irish context. When attempting to formulate concrete lists that define the usages of language, one of the first usages that frequently arises is 'language to inform'. Another frequently mentioned usage is 'language to persuade', and the list goes on for far longer than this besides. Along with various forms of media, as well as human speech itself, religion is no stranger to the use of language (written and spoken) to its own advantage. When combined with the 'language question', which is constantly up for discussion in Irish history, the issue becomes further convoluted. There is much to be said about how James Joyce and Frank McCourt treat these issues in their respective novels (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man [hereafter referred to as Portrait for brevity] and Angela's Ashes), even though this is by no means the principal topic of either novel. The main discussion shall centre on the language of religion and how both authors present it, but for some of the paper, the importance of the Irish language itself in a religious context shall be given due attention. In terms of language and Christian belief, one
Is Kalinda Ashtons The Danger Game an example of post-grunge? How?
Topic: Is Kalinda Ashton’s The Danger Game an example of post-grunge? How? Grunge literature emerged in the early 1980’s. It was pigeon-holed as “grunge” by critics who didn’t appreciate its content, which was mostly sex, drugs, alcohol and violence. The grunge era concluded in the mid 1980’s and is today re-emerging through popular literature, such as Kalinda Ashton’s, The Danger Game. Grunge literature was writing that was raw, rude and obscene, that challenged most conservative views and opinions and was of an explicit nature. Traditionally it was written by angry misunderstood individuals who were unlikely to be educated let alone published. Grunge music is said to be “the child of punk, thrashing out pain and despair and alienation” (Eurhythmaniac, 2009). Similarly, in its literary context I believe that grunge fiction can be also viewed in this way. Kalinda Ashton grew up in Melbourne suburbs, attending a small primary school of 20 students. She was always intelligent using words like “’immensely’ and ‘complacent’” from the young age of 7. She struggled through high school but eventually ended up at university; first studying law, then professional writing and editing and eventually going on to finish her PhD in journalism. In true grunge spirit Ashton states that she is a writer because “writing is the only thing that’s hung on”
Analysing Four American Short Stories - Joyce Carol Oates: Capital Punishment (1992)
LINKÖPINGS UNIVERSITET Emelie Andersson American Short Stories HT 2012 American Short Stories ________________ Joyce Carol Oates: “Capital Punishment” (1992) . Analyze the father and daughter relationship in this story in terms of their feelings for one another. How do these feelings illustrate their differences or similarities? Fundamentally, their feelings for one another seem to be typical of that of a relationship between a child and its parent. There is deep-rooted love as well as annoyance, and an inability to see matters from a different perspective than one’s own – hence all their quarrels. When Hope was younger she looked up to her father, which eventually led to her becoming more like him as she grew older. Hope’s admiration for her father made her resemblance him not only in looks, but also in way of being. He seemed like a grown up version of a pushy bully, which made her the same in her adolescent – not only toward her peers, but also toward her own father. She commented on his table manners, pushed him around by shouting orders such as “[…] Daddy, don’t you dare!” as he tried to turn off the TV at the last paragraph on page 266, and he complied without hesitation. She is his soft spot, and I think that goes back to Mr. and Mrs. Brunty’s relationship. He is afraid that Hope will act like her mother, which
A close reading of an extract from Aphra Behn's "Oroonoko".
Close reading of an extract from Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, based on language, structure, and narrative position. This extract, from Aphra Behn's controversial Oroonoko, presents the prince's reaction to his capture after a slave uprising is foiled and he is apprehended. Since Behn is writing in a third person narrative, something which can be limiting, I will be discussing the way in which in she exposes his mental agony through use of linguistic devices, punctuation and structure. I will also be contemplating how Behn's use of binary opposites and narrative, which are developed throughout the novel, entwine and unite to reveal a deeper meaning with in the text. The portrayal of this emotional experience is developed in a number of ways and builds an engrossing portrait of his volatile mental state. It also confirms a number of moral themes which Behn has highlighted throughout the novel. One aspect which is initially striking, is the extracts structure. The whole item is made up of two sections, each of which is constructed from one complex compound sentence. Each sentence is extensive and includes several semicolons. Behn begins each paragraph with an introductory statement. In the first, this is as follows: "...Caesar told him, there was no Faith in the White Men, or the Gods they Ador'd". She then uses the punctuation to create a list of why this is so; be it because of