Absalom

Poverty and hardship are shown to create vulnerability in female characters, particularly the female servants, allowing powerful men to manipulate and sexually abuse them. Kent illustrates how poverty perpetuates maltreatment and abuse in a society like Burial Rites using the characters of Agnes’ mother Ingveldur and Agnes. Agnes’ mother is forced to make invidious choices as her children are “lugged along” from farm to farm, where she is sexually exploited by her employers. In spite of these circumstances, Agnes’ mother is commonly referred to as a whore in their society which abhors female promiscuity yet disregards male promiscuity as a harmless character trait; as in the case of Natan, who is merely “indiscreet” despite all his philandering. Born into poverty, Agnes experiences similar sexual coercion and manipulation from her “masters” and yet is labelled “a woman who is loose with her emotions and looser with her morals”. The severe poverty of Agnes is explicitly demonstrated to the reader by Kent through the intertextual reference of her entire belongings - a very dismal, piteous list to be “sold if a decent offer is presented”. Furthermore, Kent contrasts the situation of Agnes, a “landless workmaid raised on a porridge of moss and poverty”, to the comparative security Steina has experienced using a rhetorical question from

In the story “Caviar”, both husband Nathaniel and wife Marie suffer a loss of innocence. It is Nathaniel, however, that goes through the greatest degree of loss. He may have caused his wife's loss of innocence by having an affair with their surrogate, Wendy, but he lost so much himself. Marie though having lost a husband, got the child she had so desperately wanted. Nathaniel was left with nothing as he lost his wife, his mistress, and his new born son.

So he decides that he is not letting it continue to just allow it to keep happening, besides it would be the easiest thing to do. Integrity is only one characteristic, there is much more to a hero.

In the short story “The Red Convertible” you will find some important elements that are integral to the support and development of the theme brotherhood. First, you will see how the road trip gives a lesson in the story. Second, you will discover how the war affected the relationship of Lyman and Henry. Finally, you will understand the symbolism of the red convertible and the link it has between both brothers. One important element that has a powerful lesson in the story is the road trip. While Lyman and Henry went on a drive one afternoon, they met a girl named Susy in the middle of the road. Susy had her hair in buns around her ears and was very short. They let her jump in the car and

In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, Rosa Huberman gives off a very strong first impression to her foster daughter, Liesel. When Liesel first arrives to her new house, Death describes Rosa as using a “fistful of words” (35). By comparing her words to a fist, Death is implying that her words are powerful and strong. This creates an image of how Liesel perceives Rosa’s personality: overpowering and impactful. For example, in the same sentence, Rosa states , “From now on you call me Mama” (35). By coming off so strong, Rosa is most likely trying to assert herself as a powerful figure in the house. Also, just like being punched by a fist, Rosa’s words left a lasting impact of her personality on Liesel. In addition, it sets a recurring theme

Hopkinson’s allusions to the old folk tale "Little Red Riding Hood" are evident throughout the entire story. Her use of symbolic settings, items and phrases integrate the connection between the two stories, forcing the readers to use prior knowledge of the old folk tale to understand her reinterpretation.“Riding the Red”(Hopkinson), “my cottage in the forest” (Hopkinson) and “red hood”(Hopkinson) are specific examples of allusive language Hopkinson uses to emphasize the connections between the two stories. By engaging the readers fundamental knowledge of the "Little Red Riding Hood" the author is able to strengthen the morals of her story and allow the reader to make connections with their childhood memories. These allusions incorporated throughout the short story ensuring the reader is more likely to understand her intended message the destruction of innocence when becoming a young woman.

In 1833, a wild, imposing man named Thomas Sutpen comes to Jefferson, Mississippi, with a group of slaves and a French architect in tow. He buys a hundred square miles of land from an Indian tribe, raises a manor house, plants cotton, and marries the daughter of a local merchant, and within a few years is entrenched among the local aristocracy. Sutpen has a son and a daughter, Henry and Judith, who grow up in a life of uncultivated ease in the northern Mississippi countryside. Henry goes to college at the University of Mississippi in 1859, and meets a sophisticated fellow student named Charles Bon, whom he befriends and brings home for Christmas. Charles meets Judith, and over time, an engagement between them is assumed. But Sutpen realizes

‘No one in the novel can actually be seen as a hero.’ To what extent do you agree?

Her demeanor suddenly changes. He makes her feel intellectually and physically stimulated. Her feminine sexuality awakens. She turns the conversation of the chrysanthemums into something sexual. “When the night is dark-why, the stars are sharp-pointed, and there’s quiet. Why, you rise up and up! Every pointed star gets driven into your body. It’s like that. Hot and sharp and lovely” (444). She completely surrenders herself to him as manifested by her kneeling before him “like a fawning dog” as she hands him the chrysanthemum shoots. But despite all that, the traveler holds no interest in her or her flowers. This symbolizes society’s rejection of women in the workforce no matter their talents.

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Abra Bacon portrays a young, modern woman in postwar America who proves to the readers that people have a choice in who they become. Abra embodies the important term of timshel in this novel, as she folds away from people’s expectancies of her, and creates her own life to live how she wants. While she proves this, she also shows that femininity is not the only part of a woman’s personality that matters, and that women can be different than the things other people idolize them to be. Aron, Abra’s conquestor, insists that she be a model for femininity, purity, and innocence, like some kind of inviolate object unavailable for living a life of her own－ but that is not the route she wants to take, so she molds her own path with the resources she has.

It is evident that Mary and her family suffer social exclusion, which undermined their wellbeing. In the novel, Mike talks reflecting the true nature of the society in which they lived. He says, “But I’m a Hunky and they don’t give good jobs to Hunkies,” (Bell, 185). This particular statement demonstrates the limiting and oppressive nature of the American society. Putting this into context, Nancy Hewitt, in her book, A

White stands up for the bleeding, dying cop, saying “You’re making a terrible mistake I’m not going to let you make. Joe, if you kill that man you die next.” Mr. White takes a bullet for the man who sold him out. In this case, the heroic character was not the upstanding citizen. Mr. White was, however, someone anyone would feel safe calling his or her hero.

The narrators alternate, showcasing the fluctuating levels of coherence, understanding and emotional strength. The dialect differs from character to character and the language each character uses, varies on level of intensity and subjectivity. Each character’s speech varies from being confessional to teetering on the line of awareness and consciousness. The characters each have their own view on life and on the way Addie Bundren lived her life: through these alternate character’s eyes, we can piece together the bits and pieces of Addie’s life, death and the haulage of her decaying body to Jefferson. The narrative seems to be fragmented however, it also exhibits a type of unity. The story takes place over the course of a few days yet the differing “sub-plots are logically and skillfully interwoven” (Ross 309). Faulkner forces the reader to see the narrative from multiple perspectives.

The story begins at Miss Emily’s funeral, where the whole town shows up to say goodbye to their past treasure. Emily is a symbol for the past days and her life was a mystery, which is what made her so interesting. The story consists of flashbacks from an unknown narrator and tells the tale of Miss Emily and the towns different perspectives of her. Faulkner’s short story is like a “time machine…[it] is about the past and Miss Emily’s tenacious clinging to the past”(Clausius). However, the fact that the whole town shows up to her funeral means that they too can’t let go of her or the past. The town is almost haunted by Miss Emily; although, the narrator is sympathetic towards her. At her funeral, the narrator notes that Emily has been “. . .a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the

It is often said that marriage is the extension of a family. Through marriage, one family is linked to another. In this regard, we have a third kind of women who are victims of the institution of marriage. In The Boarding House, Mrs. Mooney’s daughter Polly is the victim of the ingrained institution of marriage. After she learns of the affair between her daughter Polly and Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney forces him to marry her daughter in a rather tactful and cunning way: