Camparison Symbolism of Objects in Kitchen and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch

The author of “Like Water for Chocolate”, Laura Esquivel, creates a unique take on books by combining a cook book with a novel. Through the use of delicious recipes to further the story line, it creates a special way of telling a story that leaves readers both hungry and emotional. Each chapter has its own recipe, usually a traditional but nonetheless exquisite recipe that reflects the specific nature of the chapter. Each recipe combines general themes throughout the book such as passion, heat, and a certain kind of sadness. Tita, the main character, develops an extraordinary relationship with food because most of her knowledge and wisdom on life is based on food and the kitchen where she was generally raised. The food serves as an outlet through which Tita’s emotions and feelings can be released. Whether she realizes it or not, each recipe created by Tita has an impact on the people who eat her food. The way each recipe is prepared, the list of ingredients, and the overall completed dish, reflect and relate to the characters and events of the chapter. Heat, which is required in all food preparations, is essential to each chapter and to the overall theme of the book. Fire is the usual source of this physical heat, a source of strength and a force of destruction.

In The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy conveys the psychological importance of the last, pivotal scene through the use of diction, symbolism, irony. As Ivan Ilych suffers through his last moments on earth, Tolstoy narrates this man's struggle to evolve and to ultimately realize his life was not perfect. Using symbols Tolstoy creates a vivid image pertaining to a topic few people can even start to comprehend- the reexamination of one's life while on the brink of death. In using symbols and irony Tolstoy vividly conveys the manner in which Ilych views death as darkness unto his last moments of life when he finally admits imperfection.

A meal time was one of the most important times of the day, for a prisoner. In the morning, a prisoner would be fed coffee or herbal tea. The Holocaust Explained states “For lunch prisoners would be given a litre of watery soup. If they were lucky, they might find a piece of turnip or potato peel.” (The Holocaust Explained.org 2014). For dinner, black bread, a tiny piece of sausage, and cheese. The black bread was supposed to be able to last prisoners throughout the night, and into the morning. Because of the bread’s durability, many prisoners secretly hid and stashed amounts of black bread to eat. In camps like Belzec, food was placed on a high value within the life of the prisoners, making reason for them to smuggle and steal it. But because of the constant work, brutality, and small portions of food that were given to the prisoners, many died and suffered from sickness caused by hunger. Through this, weight and muscle tissue were barely left on the bodies of the prisoners, with the lack of food and

While in the camps theses two men faced some of the same horrific and disgusting experiences. They both talked about the lack of food as there is mentioning of them eating only soup and bread. Although at one point a kapo who liked Vladek gave him a present of things like sausages and eggs. But as stated in both books there was a widespread famine throughout most of the camps and the need for food incited violence.Also food was able to be traded for favors or sometimes other items like

Skrzynecki effectively portrays the doubt within his mind through the symbolism of “Our Lady watched with outstretched arms, her face overshadowed by clouds”, with the clouds symbolic of the doubt that filled him as well as being ironic imagery. This also questions the ability of concrete statues to provide comfort and warmth let alone protection. “Luceat Lux Vestra, I thought was a brand of soap”, is symbolic of his immaturity and naivety, having no idea between the true meaning and feeling unaccepted.

Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen and Moonlight shadow are Japanese novellas in which the protagonist is followed during their grieving period. In order to accurately depict the nature of significant loss and its aftermath, the stories follow distinct structures to that of western literature. Yoshimoto intensifies unexpected losses in a young woman’s life with the non-linear structure and the deficit of foreshadowing. The structure supports the story’s themes of lack of control in life and the unexpectedness it withholds.

In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn shows how Soviet prisoners, known as Zeks, are treated while being in the gulag for one day through the eyes of the protagonist and omniscient narrator named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Despite being in an environment such as the Soviet Union, where there is harsh tundra and not much food to eat, Shukhov tries to make good use of what he has received while trying to keep himself alive. The purpose of Solzhenitsyn’s portrayal of food is to show its overall significance and that it is used as a means of trade and survival. Over time, the power of food reveals its significance to the Zeks and especially to Shukhov and food allows both groups understanding towards the necessity of food for their vitality and well-being additionally.

In the Brothers Karamazov written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, books 6 and 7 provided additional details on the characters Zosima and Alyosha. More specifically, the books provide insights on how similar the two characters are to one another in terms of their personal lives and paths to spiritual awakening.

“Symbols and Signs,” a short story written by Vladimir Nabokov, revolves around a Jewish couple from Minsk, Russia, who has a son with a mental disability called “referential mania.” It was their son’s birthday when several unfortunate events, including their son’s recent suicide attempt, prevented them from visiting him and from giving him the birthday present that they prepared for him. As they got back home, they eventually decided to bring him home and the story ended with three telephone calls, the first two being wrong numbers and the third phone call remained unanswered. This close reading would focus on the plot, the characters, and the symbols used, in showing how people have different perceptions of reality.

I thought what a wonderful way to tell a story” (Mujica 38). The reader is often present in the kitchen with Esquivel when she writes about her past experiences in the kitchen.

Though sometimes contradictory, objects are often more than their intrinsic values. A strong symbol, like a memory, reminds us of values, themes, people, and events. The Saffron Kitchen is a story of a woman who is paralyzed by her past. In an effort to save her family from her traumatic experiences avoid vulnerability and shame Maryam Mazar challenges her family dynamic. When Maryam 's sister, Mara, passes, her son Saeed is sent to be taken care of by her and her husband Edward. Saeed unearths many of the repressed memories of Maryam. In an effort to protect Saeed and her family she unconsciously pushes them away, resulting in her daughter 's miscarriage. Ashamed, Maryam flees to Iran so that she may stop causing damage to the family she loves. In Iran Maryam is reunited with the only person that truly understands her past, Ali. Yasmin Crowther explores the dynamic of a multicultural family and the strong bond of love. Ultimately, Maryam works up the strength to reach out to her daughter to visit her in Iran where Sara develops an understanding for her mother 's choices. The novel culminates with Sara returning to London and her mother staying in her true home, Iran. In the story saffron proves to be both a joining and separating factor for the characters, a representation of home, lose, and disconnect, ultimately a symbol of the dynamic of the Mazar family.

Since Alyosha is the “hero” of the story, as Dosteovsky states a couple of times throughout the novel, Ivan is one of the best examples of free will in the novel. He is the rationalist in the novel and he sees the world much like we today see it. He uses reason and logic to make his choices as opposed to his father and brother Dmitri who make decisions based on their usually passionate feelings. For example, it is Ivan who first proposes how importance the existence of immorality is to humanity and what would happen if humanity as a whole were to stop believing in it. If that belief in immortality were to be extinguished, “not only love, but also any living power to continue the life of the world would at once dry up. Not only that, but then nothing would immoral any longer” (pg. 69). Ivan logically links man’s belief in his own eventual immortality with God to how man

Additionally, by including less detail, Spiegelman makes his characters easier to relate to, or as McCloud references, more universal. After Vladek recalls the hanging of a few of his associates, Spiegelman illustrates a very plain, bleak image of him mourning their loss in present day. The image consists of the most basic character features, making it effortless for the reader to mentally input their face on Vladek’s. Overall, this “amplification through simplification” (McCloud), aids the reader in feeling the emotion of the character, finding a deeper connection to the story as a whole, and can reveal universal truths.

One major theme that is present in the entire novella is the inevitability of death. Death is something that happens to everyone. No matter how high your social status is, there will come a time when you will wither and die. It does not matter how rich you are or how poor. The major turning point in the story is when Ivan realized that he was getting closer to death every day. Ivan Ilych realized that the customs and traditions of the aristocracy which he had thought were important was the cause of his metaphorical death. He had lost himself while he chased after wealth, social status, and power. He had forgotten about how to live a simple, happy life. He had forgotten about the that there are other people whose concerns and issues that are much more important that his. He has been immersed in the mediocrity and artificiality of life that he has forgotten how it is to care and to love other people.

Alyosha, after some soul struggling, lives this out in the way in which he cares for Koyla in the end. He shows him that doctrine of love. Through following Zosima’s philosophy of continual love, he slowly turns Koyla away from his atheism and shows him the joy of Christianity. Through love, Alyosha refutes Ivan’s philosophy that free will is too much to bear and instead shows the good free will does. It allows someone to choose the good. The good is a joy instead of a prison.