Carnal Knowledge Short Story

But it depicts that there's a lot of hidden truths and influences while growing up in the city. Jim Carroll was just steps away from addicts, gang violence, and prostitution. Many may view these things as impurities of the world but I believe that Jim Carroll was drawn to it. He was giving the option to participate in school and play basketball, who knows even go to college. But the evils of the influential world were luring him in. In my closed reading, I noticed that Jim Carroll’s motivation for doing half of the things he does is too fit in. Jim obsesses to embrace the teenage societal norm of rebelling. His friends not only strays him into the wrong path but they are ultimately, one of the reasons for his loss of innocence. However, throughout the novel he does refer to himself, as trying to hang on to what little innocence he has; “I’m just really a wise ass kid getting wiser and I'm going to get even somehow for you dumb hatreds and all them war baby dreams you left in my scarred bed with dreams of bombs falling above that cliff I’m hanging steady to.” (Carroll 159) This false perception of control and stability is the reason why Jim Carroll spirals out of control. His addiction to heroin not only changes every aspect of his life but it also slowly becomes the central focus of his

However, in contrast to the ‘noisy girls’ that Jim found to be great company, Jelka was quiet and unquestioning—the quintessential submissive wife. Therefore, from the onset of the story, it is apparent that Jim had a gaping need for companionship that went beyond Jelka’s sporadic bursts of passion that came to the fore during their lovemaking sessions. However, the story’s setting exposes the overbearing male chauvinism of the time. For instance, when Jim suspected that Jelka knew that he planned to spend the night with the noisy girls, he cared less. In another instance, when the deputy sheriff encountered the murder scene of Jelka’s cousin — with whom she cheated and what lead to Jim’s spontaneous fatal reaction, the deputy reiterated that the law would exonerate Jim from the

As he lies down to sleep that night, he is overwhelmed by his new surroundings and thinks to himself that "between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out. I did not say my prayers that night; here, I felt, what would be would be" as if he is completely surrendering himself to his new environment (8). But this feeling of helplessness doesn't last long and Jim quickly begins to embrace his new surroundings. His visit to his Grandmother's garden is a point in which we see Jim begin his transformation to his new self

In addition to Jim's superstitious nature, throughout the novel he also demonstrates gullibility. A good example of this

Carnal Knowledge illustrates what can transpire between a man and a woman. Being too engrossed on Alena’s physical attributes causes Jim to be misled by beauty, while losing sight of his own selfish life. This short story shows one man’s internal battle concerning his lust for a stunning activist and his personal convictions. In spite of his nonexistent stand on animal rights issues, he finds himself involved in an increasingly rising battle for its cause. He does not fight for the cause because of a moral responsibility, Jim does it to win the respect of Alena. The irony of it all draws me to this story. Through

Thanks to his strong personality and nature, Jim develops into a wonderful man by the end of the novel, despite having gone through many difficult times. He used these tragedies to form himself into a strong person, instead of allowing it to break him down. When he was very young, he was orphaned, and sent to live in a new state, ‘I was ten years old then; I had lost both my father

Jim Ryan the protagonist of the film has a dismissive opinion of the Aboriginal people. As Jim’s daughter goes missing the assistance of an Aboriginal tracker Albert is called in hope of finding the missing child. His disapproval of aboriginal people is shown when he states to the Police Sergeant, “no blacks on my land”. Jim’s lack of acceptance allows us to see the perspective of the European society; even though Albert knew the path the missing child took Jims narrow-minded personality and views of the Aboriginal culture does not allow him to believe Albert has any hope of finding his missing daughter. This frustrates Albert and he hands his police badge back to the police as he feels inadequate to be granted the authority. Rose, Jim’s wife has a divergent opinion to his and ventures off in hope to find Albert so he can find her missing

To lack knowledge someone should know by heart is a daily conundrum existing with Equality and the rest of the society, for the single exception of the House of Scholars, which even there, little of the knowledge we hold is taught there. Equality had other plans, however. He seeked knowledge, not a street sweeper job, another “sin” on his conscious. After discovering a tunnel to the underground, he held it secret, as too keep it safe, and a place to be truly private. By

Jim Casy, a martyr and leader with a large following, reflects the sacrifices of Jesus Christ for the downtrodden by uniting the less privileged and rebelling against the religious constrictions of their time. Jim Casy parallels Jesus Christ in many ways throughout the novel. Steinbeck purposefully gave Jim Casy the same initials as Jesus Christ in order to signify the link between these two influential figures. Jim Casy, like Jesus Christ, is consistently willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. When a scuffle ensues between Tom Joad and a police officer in Hooverville, Jim Casey offers take the blame: “Somebody got to take the blame. I got no kids. They’ll jus’ put me in jail, an’ I ain’t doin’ nothin’ but set aroun”(266-267). Jim does not want Tom to be arrested because Tom has broken parole, Jim recognizes that there would be less suffering if he takes the blame, so he does. Jim is watching out for someone he cares for deeply, and is willing to make a sacrifice for Tom. He would rather be punished than see another person be punished more than himself. Jim believes that since he’s “got no kids,” it would be better for him to be in jail as compared to Tom because Tom has a family and is someone’s son. Jim values family and wants to keep the Joad family together and since he does not have his own family and does not have a present father, Jim believes it would be better for him to be in jail as opposed to Tom. Jim thinks that his life is less important than some

One man who grew up with Jim said, “He was obsessed with religion, he was obsessed with death” ("Jonestown, PBS Documentary (FULL)"). He would invite the boys over in his neighborhood to conduct funerals for small animals that he either found dead or killed ("Jonestown, PBS Documentary (FULL)”). One time, one of the boys saw Jim kill a cat with a knife ("Jonestown, PBS Documentary (FULL)"). He came from a dysfunctional and messed up family, which seemed to play a role onto why Jim was such an unusual

James Dickey struggled with suburban family life because his sets of beliefs contradict and interfere with the way others live. His dishonesty comes not from his misrepresentations or distortions of facts in his life to other people, but in his failed attempt to be true to his worldview. He is a loner not by choice, but by philosophical differences with the majority. These differences result in a mental tug of war that produces chaotic results in his life. Christopher Dickey witnessed the alcoholic, the adulterer, the liar, the artist, the promoter, the creative genius, and the decimated father figure. Christopher Dickey judged his father from his own perspective and at the insistence of his wife. Christopher Dickey may have connected with his father, but the reciprocal connection from his dad was certainly different. James Dickey did not openly display his dark side to his wife and immediate family to secure their loving devotion. They put up with him, because he provided for them financially; he had enormous charisma; and his wife was too weak to do anything. The connections in his family were superficial; he controlled them from a detached standpoint.

After Jim accidently let the pig, who was about to give birth, die, Innis Brown, Vyry’s second husband, got so angry with Jim that he beat him. Jim ran into the house “...sobbing hysterically and screaming incoherent words between sobs” (482). It became clear to Vyry that something was wrong. Vyry could tell Jim had been beaten because “...his shirt was in shreds and sticking to his skin and she [Vyry] saw his back was bleeding” (482). Once Jim ran up into his room, Innis Brown came back into the house with the stick he had used to beat Jim.

The relationship between Jim and his parents at the start of the film provides a powerful insight into how his personal values create a barrier between him and his parents, who evidently retain values that derive from an alternate generation. This notion is employed in The ‘Police Station Scene’. Jim is seen fidgeting in emotional pain while his parents argue about the situation. Jim’s father tries to identify the motives behind Jim’s actions: “Don’t I buy you everything you want? A bicycle, you get a bicycle, a car…well, not just buy. We give you love and affection, don’t we?” Jim deems his parents love to be artificial and smothering. His emotional anger climaxes with his out burst: “You’re tearing me apart! You say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again.” He feels alienated from his conformist parents and their values. He additionally blames them for the misery in the family. Jim’s emotional anger derives from his lack of a father figure. He hates that his father is incessantly submissive to his mother. The effect of this dysfunctional family results in Jim not being able to establish any personal values that coincide with the values of the broader world, resulting in Jim not feeling he possess any sense of ethical direction. This is the basis of his overwhelming struggle of transition from adolescence to adulthood. In ‘Raw’, Brett struggles to experience and develop relationships

than a friend but more like a relationship between a son and his father. When Huck and Jim

The use of literary devices such as allusions, metaphors, similes, homophones and homonyms are used by the author to uncover the true nature of Jim’s character and his world. For example, Jim is described as “a video artist, creating pieces that were thought of by some as ‘experimental’ films.” To Jim these films weren’t “experimental” because he used them as a way to cover up his past. When his two lives come close to merging he “shap[es] and structur[es] the project in his mind”. Thus creating a lie or cover for what happened that night. Through the use of similes and metaphors the author describes the true evil of the drug-dealing world Jim tried to leave behind. For instance, when the author describes Ellis’ freezer, he says the freezer