Kelly Warner
29 September 2017
EN 234 – Introduction to Fiction
Setting and Symbolism
In the novel “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway and the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there are distinct similarities and differences in the setting and symbolism used throughout. In order to see what the authors are trying to say, from time to time, you have to look deeper into the facts in the writing and analyze. Both of these stories are extremely stimulating, while still being heartbreaking. The styles that these stories have make you as a reader see things differently in your own life and your own experiences. If you look at the similarities in these two stories, it is apparent that both of the authors use weather to
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The weather also had meaningful symbolism in both of the stories that led to the plot and conclusion of the story. The rain in “A Farewell to Arms” has more meaning than what we initially read. Rain symbolized death. If you look at the first chapter, it reads, “In the fall when the rains came the leaves all fell from the chestnut trees and the branches were bare and the trunks blank with rain; the vineyards were thin and bare-branched too and all the country wet and brown and dead with autumn” (Hemingway, 4). There was an outbreak of fatal illnesses that killed seven thousand people, “At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera” (Hemingway, 7). Later on, Catherine tells Henry “I’m afraid of the rain because sometimes I see myself dead in it; and sometimes I see you dead in it” (Hemingway, 107). “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Lottery” both use religion as a form of symbolism. Henry describes the priest’s home of Abruzzi as a “place where the roads were frozen and hard as iron, where it was clear and cod and dry and the snow was dry and powdery” (Hemingway, 116). Even though the story showed glimpses of hope, Henry said “I believed that life was a tragedy and knew it could only have one end” (Merrill). The author of “The Lottery” was a Christian woman, so I can see why the critic Helen Nebeker argued that “the three legs of the
Chapter ten of How to Read Literature Like a Professor explains the important role weather plays on literature. For instance, snow is not just snow in a novel. It symbolizes so much more in both positive and negative ways; it is stark, filthy, playful, and clean, and you can do just about anything with it. In “The Dead,” Joyce breaks his main character down until he can look out at the snow, which is “general all over Ireland,” and then the reader realizes snow is like death. It paints the image that “upon all the living are the dead.”
When it comes to literature, weather can be used in many different ways. It can symbolize theme, set the mood of the story, and even affect the plot. In Tangerine by Edward Bloor, the weather acts as a plot device and as a symbol.
Andrew Lansley once said “Peer pressure and social norms are powerful influences on behavior, and they are classic excuses.” Most people tend to follow cultural customs because they have grown with them or it has been forced onto them with factors such as parents or their environment. However, is it always right to follow these customs even if they are in fact considered wrong? Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story about the cultural norms of a small community and its annual lottery ritual; a stoning. Jackson overthrows the story by making the lottery a corrupt occurrence rather than a victory. The reader would probably think that the “winner” of the lottery would be benefited but in this case the victory was not so delightful. In her short story “The Lottery” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.
Weather is a symbol that is in many pieces fro all different genres whith different symbolic menings. The symbolism that f. Asott Fitzgerold was udsed in the novel The great gastby describes change in everything. There are 4 seasn with each unique weather that symbolizes time and the societys change. Weather in The Great Gatsby symbolizes everything and evryonee. Fitzgerad uses the
In some ways, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson could be seen as controversial. Within the first paragraph, we are left with two main questions; “what is the lottery?” and “why does it happen?” A major theme that answers the first question is all about tradition. Yes, the lottery is a tradition in many towns. No one has ever questioned this tradition, even though it is quite inhumane. In all honesty, you could compare this story very well to The Hunger Games just because of what this tradition consists of. Imagine being in a town of around three hundred people and having your life put on the line. The lottery itself comes down to all of the townspeople meeting up, and each family name is read by Mr. Summers, and the head of the family
In ‘How to Read Literature Like a Professor’ by Thomas Foster, Foster states that in literature weather can be used for much more than just plot progression. through the use of fog, rainbows, snow, rain, and many other weather elements it gives literature a much richer meaning through symbolism, foreshadowing, and other literary devices. In Act 3 Scene 2 of King Lear, Lear is beginning to lose his sanity in a storm as he shouts “LEAR: Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks! You sulfurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity
In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson writes about the game lottery, which makes the story very ironic. Unlike all of the other Lottery games, in this traditional version no one wants to be chosen, because that brings them the end of their life. Jackson explains how keeping up with some traditions that are part of people’s life, may not be the best choice to embrace a particular culture. Jackson uses the Lottery as an example to express her idea about the ethical issues such as; violent murder, harming people, forcefully following a tradition, and lying. All of these ethical issues are created by blindly following tradition in “The Lottery.”
The author of “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson decided it was important to write this short story in order to inform the readers about another dimension, where a certain common tradition gets prized with something obscure. Some readers can be shocked when reading this story, because they might be surprised and even shocked with the themes that play along in the storyline. This short story “The Lottery” was so controversial at the time, because in the date it was published in June 24, 1948 there were so many themes from the stories that could relate to past events or even event that were taking place at the time.
In the first chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, every trip a protagonist takes becomes a quest in the story. These quests often entail a Quester (the protagonist), a specific place to go, a reason to go to a said place, obstacles, and challenges on the way, and the Quester’s real reason to go to said place. Whatever is gained from this quest can vary from unlimited wealth to a whole lot of nothing, but the Quester seems to always be guaranteed to receive one thing: self-knowledge. In chapter 2, Foster emphasizes the point that whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion. Basic survival states that people need food to be able to live.
Weather is very important in literature, not only does it help to set the mood, but it can also help reveal a character’s mood. When a character is happy, the sun might be shining and the birds might be chirping, or the opposite, if a character is sad then it might be raining or gloomy out. For example, in the “Great Gatsby” when Daisy firsts comes over to Nicks house unaware that Gatsby is there, it’s raining outside. The rain could represent Gatsby’s nervousness to see Daisy after so many years, and when the two finally do reunite, the rain continues. The rain could also symbolize the awkwardness between the two after meeting again for so long. When Nick returns, the rain stopped and the sun is shining, and we find that Daisy and Gatsby are
Once upon a time there was a little village. In this village three hundred people happily farmed and played and went about their business. The children went to school while the men cut wood or farmed, and the women cooked and cleaned. Every summer in June each of villagers took part in the traditional lottery drawing and one villager was picked for the prize – a stoning. In 1948, Shirley Jackson published this short story known as “The Lottery,” in The New York Times. The story’s plot shocked readers all over America as they learned of the horror happening in such a quaint town. Jackson purposely set this tragic event in this innocent setting to emphasize humanity’s cruelty. Using her appalling short story, The Lottery,
Weather is used in every piece of literature to give the writing a since of tone. Rain typically represents a drowsy, sad and mellow atmosphere, while heat brings out the frustration between characters. In The Great Gatsby weather is used in these general terms, but has two very important details that the average reader often overlooks. The two types of weather, heat and rain, are brought to life and acts as a mask to hide the true feeling of the characters. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald uses weather as a symbol of the revelation of truth that Daisy and Gatsby come to on their own.
Julius Caesar and The Great Gatsby both utilizes the changes in weather in the narrative to symbolize the moments that were happen. In Julius Caesar a storm happens with “Thunder and lightning” and “scolding winds” this is used to represent the status of Rome at the moment . however it’s also used to create the mood, foreshadowing the death of Caesar, making it storm on the day he will die (Shakespeare). This is similar to The Great
The rain appears whenever complications arise in the novel. First, it appears in the war as a “permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera” (FTA, 4). When Henry promises to love Catherine, she says she is “afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it” (FTA,126). When he left her to go to war, he said goodbye and “stepped out into the rain” (FTA, 157). Finally, Henry said goodbye to a dead Catherine and “walked back to the hotel in the rain” (FTA, 332). Every time tragedy comes to Henry, it begins to rain. The rain is a constant symbol of the failure that awaits Henry. Malcom Cowley, contributor to Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Farewell to Arms, explains, “The rain becomes a conscious symbol of disaster.” Henry is always facing uncertainty with his love, which is a central part to Hemingway’s literature. Wilson even states, “The uncertainty, nevertheless, almost become a constant, the horror almost taken for granted.” Henry is always uncertain about if he made the right decision. Even in Switzerland, Henry knows “that they were still fighting” (FTA, 291). The complications and hopelessness of life always lurk in the back, constantly coming to him in the rain. The rain gives Henry the remainder that his meaning will not prevent tragedy, furthering the nihilistic belief that meaning serves no
twentieth century. He has written several novels such as, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom