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Character Analysis: On Golden Pond

Decent Essays

Classic Essay Imagine— you are sitting upon an old dock at the edge of a pond as the evening sun begins to set. A captivating ornamentation of light dances off the water as the sun slowly disappears behind an overbearing mountain. You become mesmerized by the mixed celebration of the faint yellow, baby blue, and champagne pink lights that shine across the ripples of the water. When suddenly, there is the faint cry of a loon in the distance. This cry startles you and brings you from that tranquil state back to the harrowing vapidity of reality.You try your best to ignore the loon as his noisy laugh continues to mock you from across the pond. You immediately want to turn to annoyance, but you instead decide to embrace the loon after realizing that he is time and you are Norman Thayer. You are the character from the play “On Golden Pond,” written by Ernest Thompson, who lost their charismatic outlook on life to the turning of time. A vast array of critics call “On Golden …show more content…

Upon the introduction to the main characters, it is revealed that the play encompasses the standard pattern of social behavior that is expected by American society. This is exhibited through the fact that Norman and Ethel are a straight couple who have been married for many years. It is traditional in American society for a man to marry a woman. Same-sex marriage has slowly gained acceptance in the twenty-first century; however, those who choose to marry someone of the same gender still receive discrimination and are often looked down upon by certain members of society. The play highlights this intolerance as Norman repeatedly mocks his two neighbors, who are a same-sex couple, in a joking manner. Norman chooses to banter about these two individuals solely because their relationship ceases to be a conventional aspect of American

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