A Diamond Guitar Explication

The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King is both a wonderful film and a brilliantly written short story. There are many themes represented in each form of The Shawshank Redemption. The one major theme that interests me in both the film and the story is freedom. Freedom serves a large purpose for both the story's writer and the filmmaker. Both use similar examples to signify freedom, not only in the jail, but also in a larger context about life. There are many events and examples in both the film and the short story that signifies the theme of freedom. The one main difference is when the film uses the director’s technique to portray a feel of freedom for the inmates. The overall three issues used in this essay are all linked to the

Through this situation, Blevin caused conflict and hardship for Rawlin and John Grady, but he allowed John Grady to live the dream. Without the situation, John Grady would not have encountered darkness and suffering, which forced him to grow. The prison, as reality’s rejection, allows John Grady to express ideal qualities of a cowboy. Ironically, these qualities come out because of contrast: prison emphasizes his desire to be unfettered, the threat of his life emphasizes his laid back approach, his confinement emphasizes his nomadic desires, and the lack of concern about a jail brawl stab emphasizes his carefree attitude. Conflict results in darkness, allowing John Grady to live his dream.

“I do what I can for them, but it is not enough… though their bandages unravel… believe me I love them…” establishes conflict and insight on the complex relationship between the novelist and the characters in the novel “Marching Through a Novel” by John Updike. Updike shows the complexity of being a novelist and creating characters through personification and metaphors.

At first, he has a difficult time making friends thanks to his reputation of being “a snob and a coldfish” (King 27). He is very different from the other prisoners, partly because he knows he is not guilty and thus wears this confidence on his sleeve. It is the memory of his former freedom which provokes this seemingly arrogant attitude that both helps and hinders him. Nevertheless, this behavior serves as the very thing that first attracts the narrator, Red, to Andy. Not a man to be easily impressed nor persuaded, it comes as quite a shock to the reader that these two polar opposites form a bond. Red is able to see past what the other inmates label as “snobbishness” and instead takes comfort in Andy’s nonchalant approach to life and the tone of confidence that consumes him. Red views Andy as a much needed breath of fresh air to his musty routine within the Shank. However, it seems that their budding friendship is initially a greater asset to Red than it is to Andy. Although it may help Andy begin to find his place, he is primarily concerned with his own well-being, which is sustained only by his memories and not by the companionship of a stranger. An addition to this list of survival tools is Andy’s ability to keep his mind on the outside rather than focusing on the finality of prison life. His capacity to do so separates him from his peers, in that he becomes one of the few “long timers” able to avoid the characteristic walk, that in a

In the novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King, banker Andy Dufresne is wrongfully convicted of murder and sent to Shawshank Prison. Andy’s shrewd nature and sense of self-worth become valuable tools that allow him to thrive in prison under the harsh authority of the warden, Samuel Norton. King uses Norton to demonstrate that corruption is present throughout society and that the perception of good and evil can be altered depending on who presents a story.

Another local-color characteristic that Harte used in Tennessee’s Partner was the development of characters based on their setting. The reader never feels like he knows much at all about any of the characters – even Tennessee and his partner – at all. In fact, neither does the narrator. But through the use of description, the two main characters become more stereotypes of miners in the Gold Rush era; they were typical rugged, gambling, scorched-skinned, strong, simple womanizing men.

Throughout the novel “The Story Of Tom Brennan” Burke cleverly employs an enormous amount of changes as a result of one tragic event. The event involves

A man by the name of Andy Dufresne was convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in Shawshank prison. He was an obvious black sheep among the prisoners, but as time went on he grew relationships with the crooks and realized the injustice in the justice system. In the creation of friendship between Red and Andy, hope was spread throughout the prison. While many themes are present in the film The Shawshank Redemption, hope, friendship, and injustice are also relevant in the world today.

The brutal diction and sadistic atmosphere that picturize Perry’s childhood leads the audience to revisit their initial impression of him. With a further glimpse into the man’s background, Capote can continue his focus on providing a larger picture. In order to expand on Perry, Capote builds off of his physical trauma and discusses the emotional trauma that he had to face concerning his parents and siblings. His parents were separated and his mom became drunk who did not care for him and eventually he had a falling out with his father and with the multiple deaths of his siblings, Perry Smith revisited these memories many times. His sister, Fern-Joy was a drunk who “fell from the window of a hotel room. Falling she struck a theater marquee, bounced off it, and rolled under the wheels of a taxi” (116), his brother Jimmy “who had one day driven his wife to suicide and killed himself the next” (69), and his mother, “an alcoholic, had strangled to death on her own vomit” (69). According to Capote, such drastic changes had lead Perry to some serious changes in which human life is not something important and is simply expendable. As the writer, he does not believe that Perry’s involvement in the Clutter murder is forgivable but rather, compassion and sympathy should be shown toward him due to his unfortunate circumstances. Additionally, Capote believes that there should be an acknowledgement of

In superficial ways the two male figures seem to be the same man, but the speaker has finally come to realize that the one she idolized is gone forever and the one who shares his image is actually a monster.

Imagine a man held against his will. Ethan Frome thinks of himself as a “prisoner” (Wharton 74). He is detained from a life he has always imagined because of the accident with Mattie Silver. “The inexorable facts closed in on him like a prison-warder handcuffing a convict” (Wharton 74). Ethan Frome has realized he has to face the consequences of being infatuated with Mattie Silver forever. He becomes entwined with two “sickly “controlling women, a “warped right side” and life full of regrets. Edith Wharton shows Ethan “checking each step like the jerk of a chain” (Wharton 1). Every step Ethan takes into getting into the right path, trouble gets in his way. Starkfield being “being in an exhausted receiver” (Wharton 13) makes him feels he will be stuck in the darkness for eternity. For

As we examined the essay “Sonny’s Blues” and “The Rich Brother” that may not have a great deal in common, but with more analysis in to the stories it becomes clear that they are similar but still have their own uniqueness. The stories are “The rich brother” which was written by Tobias Wolff is known for short stories or memoir and “Sonny’s Blues” which was written by James Baldwin also an American writer best known for its eloquence or rhetorical force in his writing. Both writers a best known for their famous writing than span for decades.

In the novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the reader follows the life of Andy Dufresne, who was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and a golf pro. Author Stephen King, who is known for his simpler, conversation esque writing, describes Andy’s experiences and attempt to escape from Shawshank Prison where he is being held. Red, Andy’s most valuable friend while in prison, is also in prison for killing his wife, but in contrast to Andy, he actually did it. Andy is constantly denied his freedom for parole or when evidence arises proving his innocence because of his role running the illegal money laundering scheme for Warden Norton. Throughout the novella, both characters display moments of similar, but also at times vastly different, levels of hope. King uses the way characters, such as Red and Andy, view hope as either a means of escape or simply futile in the novella to show how the circumstances surrounding a tragedy or difficult situation change a character’s mindset on hope and in turn dictates the actions they use to cope.

As to dealing with repetition, The two lines “The Negro / With the trumpet at his lips” are repeated (1-2, 9-10, 33-34). The repetition of this picture fills in as both a steady indication of the difficult memories that inconvenienced the trumpet player and an approach to fortify his enthusiasm for music to facilitate that pain. Additionally, the repetition of these two lines implies that the trumpet player has in some ways end up plainly reliant on music. This idea is affirmed by the third stanza, in which the speaker states, "the rhythm/from the trumpet at his lips/is ecstasy/distilled from old desires—," alluding to his waiting desire "that is longing for the sea/where the sea's a bar-glass/sucker size" (21-24, 29-32). This shows he utilized alcohol in the past to overwhelm his agony, before supplanting it with music for the help. Additionally, the last stanza portrays music just like a "hypodermic needle/to his soul," alluding that he has an addiction to music (39-40). Without the music

A&P, a short story by John Updike, would best be analyzed by using the school of New Criticism and analyzing the journey Sammy, the narrator, experiences throughout the story. The school of New Criticism believes that the work’s overall meaning depends solely on the text in front of the reader. This is the primary way that students are taught to analyze literature in high school, or early in college. Using this school, there are many different elements to evaluate or interpret; including theme, allusion, and point of view. When analyzing the hero’s journey, a reader should look at seven characteristics. By looking at these seven characteristics of the story, the reader will be able to see into the mind of narrator and see what he/she is going through emotionally and physically. The point of using these two techniques to analyze this story is to gain insight into the writers’ and characters’ minds and see what drives them to do what they do.