Analysis Of Akhil Sharma's 'Surrounded By Sleep'

In my life I have had many changes in the past last year that have really been life altering. My main one is cutting my father out of my life. Some might say that is crazy and ridiculous but if you have been through what I have went through the past year with him you would do the same. He was alway harassing me on social media because i’m not calling him everyday. Which for a long time I just brushed it off my back but now that I have gotten older. I’m really just over it and i’m honestly more happier without him in my life. Another decision I

The car that Shiftlet voluntarily fixes is also a symbol for freedom, the moving spirit, but also how material objects can block mankind from God’s grace. Shiftlet first notices the beat up old car and offers to fix things up car when he says he can just sleep in the car like, “the monks of old slept in their coffins!” (O’Connor 678). Shiftlet not only does not care to sleep in the house with human company, but he also compares the car to a coffin. The car is a symbol of much more than freedom, like Shiftlet says when he compares a man’s spirit to an automobile, but also as a symbol of death. When discussing symbolism, Tom Deignan discusses how “Shiftlet responds, eerily linking the car to a symbol of death. Mrs. Crater then says ‘They wasn’t as advanced as we are.’ But Mrs. Crater’s response be ironic. By inserting the image of stoic, noble monks, O’Connor seems to be contrasting their lives of devotion with these two lives of greedy pursuit. The monks, within O’Connor’s value system, are perhaps more ‘advanced.’ Furthermore, Shiftlet’s desire for the car just might lead him to some sort of death” (Deignan 133). Because the theme is about finding what truly matters in life, O’Connor uses symbols to show the reader what does not matter and what does matter. She compares Shiftlet to Jesus Christ, but then at the end of the story sacrifices someone else for his own gain instead of

Over the past five weeks, my group and I read the novel, When Morning Comes written by Arushi Raina. This story takes place in 1976 during the Soweto Uprising in South Africa; a student-lead protest against the Baas Laws, which required subjects to be taught in Afrikaans. The protagonists: Jack, Zanele, Meena, and Thabo start out as strangers with different racial identities, but through a series of chance meetings, each of their lives change significantly. During our Booktalk meetings, I was able to greater discuss some of the challenges that the protagonists faced, gain knowledge and insight about the novel from my peers, compare and contrast the themes in When Morning Comes with those in other books, and connect the novel to concepts learned in class. Before reading When Morning Comes, I hoped that the book would offer me some insight into how much our education system has progressed and improved, but it made me think about so much more than that.

At first, I was resistant to change but now I am glad I became open-minded and adapted to the new way of life. It was not an easy transition for me, however, I have faced every obstacles head on such as learning a new language, graduating from high school, and attending college. I can honestly say my mom was right I have made new friends and have grown to love and appreciate my family members that I have met. I know there will be more awesome moments in my life that can have a major impact, but I truly believe they will never be as big as me coming to

The female saint, Mirabai, expressed her devotion to the deity Krishna through songs of love and longing. Mirabai’s song, Without Krishna I Cannot Sleep, conveys this desire to be united with the Lord Krishna.

I changed, with the help of family, friends, and therapists. I am ever thankful to them, and I have learned to appreciate the good things in life, the small ones. I know that being pessimistic is not the way to go. If we want to be strong and overcome the trials in our life that may hit us when we least expect it, we have to look at the silver lining, the ‘bright side’ of things. When all you think about are the events gone wrong in your life, why is that life worth living? Point is, it’s better that you pull the thorns from your side as soon as you can, not to let them

The movie, Requiem for a Dream (Selby & Mansell, 2000) exposes the multiple faces of addiction. Addiction can change a person’s identity and therefore, impacts each person differently. This movie explores the life of four addicts who push the boundaries of their own lives leaving the viewer to wonder, how far will they go to use drugs? The focus of this paper is on what addiction looks like for the character, Harry Goldfarb.

Amir’s shame brought on by his marriage to honest Soraya was his poor treatment of his closest childhood friend, and later understood half brother, Hassan. Amir questions what would have happened “had he not as a child lied monstrously about Hassan” “which resulted in Hassan and Ali leaving the service of Baba” (Graves 1). These feelings of inadequacy arose when Amir overheard his father say “’I’d never believe he’s my son’” (Hosseini 23). Amir and Caleb both indirectly caused the death of their brothers because of their jealousy. Both believed the other sibling was loved more, when all actuality the only reason it seemed this way is because there was more in common between Adam and Aron and Baba and Hassan which led to a stronger bond but not greater love.

In The Man Awakened from Dreams, Henrietta Harrison describes the life of Liu Dapeng through his diary entries. Highlighting one man’s story allowed the author “to focus on the details of everyday life” in order to “see how social structures and ideologies interacted in practice” (7). Liu lived from 1857 to 1942 and began his diary in 1891, so information about Liu’s childhood and education is dependent on his memories from that time. Harrison depicts Liu as a conservative scholar and argues that his education and Confucian beliefs provided him opportunities even among the modernization changes of China. Harrison also explores the negative impact of modernization on rural areas by recounting the economic and

No other film was as controlled in its production as The Big Sleep. Every aspect of the film is so precise, that the filmmakers left nothing to chance. Every set was built inside, with the exception of a few exterior shots. The Big Sleep is a very visually interesting film that uses quick and precise cutting, harsh lighting, and wonderfully framed shots.

In “On the Pulse of Morning”, Angelou uses visual imagery and symbolism to argue that people must learn from the past to eliminate racial injustice in society today. The vivid descriptions found in the poem evoke feelings of injustice through the emotionally painful pictures that they paint. Americans as a whole are described in the poem to have “crouched too long in / The bruising darkness, [...] / Face down in ignorance” (“On the Pulse of Morning” 15-18). The speaker of the poem insinuates that “humans have been hiding, [...] afraid of what they might learn” from history (“On the Pulse of Morning”, 1998, 3: 276). The bestial visual of a person “crouching” takes away the humanity of the subjects, and the description of “bruising darkness” calls to mind the dark times of slavery over a hundred years prior. The image evokes a feeling that Americans have made terrible mistakes in the past that have not yet been corrected. They have committed terrible, animalistic acts in the blackened cover of history. These people refuse to look up and accept what has been done. The shadows of slavery and the pain caused by it are still ubiquitous in modern society, and if humans do not stop hiding from the truth, they cannot right the wrongs that have been committed. In order for the ignorance to end, people must accept the continuing prevalence of injustice. Not only does Angelou use detailed descriptions, but her use of symbolism allows the reader to see the injustice in society through

In The Big Sleep, Chandler portrays Marlowe as the knight in shining armor. This establishes a motif of the stained glass window in General Stern wood’s home in the first chapter of the novel and is an appropriate motif in dictating Marlowe’s knightly role in the novel. The stained glass that is reflected in the novel places Marlowe in the position of the knight as it shows a knight who strives to reach a woman to set her free. The fact that he stares at the glass makes him develop the need to offer assistance. This motif is suitable because it sets the stage for what is to take place in the aftermath when Marlowe rescues Carmen. Secondly, Chandler tries to connect Marlowe with the knightly personality from the beginning of the novel that he intended to name his detective the modern knight and a brave man fighting for General Sternwood. He takes the role of the servant to Sternwood’s lord and therefore, in the knightly terms, it is sufficient to say that Marlowe is striving to find justice. Moreover, he is dedicated to rendering his services in the line of duty with much loyalty and honor despite the sexual and financial temptations that come his way. Like the ancient knights, Marlowe has deeply invested in his personal code of chivalry that contain among others, the need to overcome the sexual temptation of whatever magnitude that comes his way. Lastly, as a representation of the modern-day knight, Marlowe comes out in the novel as a tough detective and a brave individual

When it comes to Indian popular culture, there is no film more ingrained in the public consciousness than Ramesh Sippy’s iconic thriller ‘Sholay’ (1975). The film revolves around two criminals, Jai and Veeru (Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra), hired by a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) to exact revenge on a ruthless bandit, Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), responsible for murdering his family. The film blends several genres such as the Western, Comedy and Musical in its use of mis en scene, cinematography and editing. Sholay can also be deconstructed as a relevant commentary on the political unrest and instability of India in the 1970s, a period marked by regional tensions, war and internal fragility of a nation.

There are many different life changing events that can change your life. Sometimes things happen in people’s life and they can’t do anything about it. Changes can be good and sometimes it can be a terrible thing that results in a positive turn in one’s life. Change is a part of life that no one looks forward to. Everyone’s life changes at some point. Life is full of many unexpected challenges that will be thrown in your face at any place and any time. People learn and grow from every experience that they go through in life. Some of the events that have changed my life was losing my grandmother, graduation, and going to college. Changes come almost every day in my life.

Everyone has that one experience that makes them look at life with a new set of eyes. My life changing experience happened a little earlier than most. It was the summer before first grade. We had gotten an exceptional amount of rain in the past months even though it was summer. I did not notice, though, because summer was every six year old's favorite holiday, next to Christmas and their birthday. My summer was supposed to be like any other but it quickly took a turn. For the best or for the worst? That is debatable.