Comparing Protagonists in Choke and Birdsong

After a long night of searching for Morgana (who was nowhere to be found), assessing damage to the castle and city, and helping injured and displaced people, Arthur decided to return to his quarters for a nice, solid nap. He knew the room was probably in a shambles, but as long as the door closed and he found one decent blanket and perhaps a pillow, he’d get some much needed rest.

The narrative then shifts to how he describes her and his feelings of her in his notebook, they are summed up in a single word ‘Pulse’. Stephen’s growing attraction towards Isabelle become increasingly apparent with his awareness of the way she moves and noticeably how she eats and drinks. “Her white hands seemed barely to touch the cutlery when they ate at the family dinner table and her lips left no trace of their presence on the wine glass”.

She said that "… my family was going to be forcibly removed … So I started planning how to help them escape" (¶ 12 Ln. 3-4). She had just gone through everything to get herself to safety and she yet was willing to throw it all away to jump back into it again. She knew her family was in danger and she put herself at exponentially more risk to rescue them. She knew she had to help her family and she was courageous enough to throw herself back into the danger to save them. Her courage here helped her push through and not only survive but rescue her family as

In this nostalgic and cynical novel we read about the painful transformation from youth to adulthood in a young boy called Holden. This troubled state of mind young boy, in his adolescent years, gives us an in-depth insight into the climax moment of his life which stretches over a period of three days. A very troubled and confused, depressed and insecure young man shows us that he is desperate for acceptance, regardless from where. He is constantly looking for some form of connection and for someone to acknowledge him. The approaching adulthood seems so phoney to him and he displays the mourning loss of the nurturing feeling of childhood, which seems light years away. Sadly his status of being of an affluent and wealthy teenager from a good

Power and control plays a big role in the lives many. When power is used as a form of control, it leads to depression and misery in the relationship. This is proven through the themes and symbolism used in the stories Lesson before Dying, The fun they had, The strangers that came to town, and Dolls house through the median of three major unsuccessful relationship: racial tension between the African Americans and the caucasians in the novel Lesson before Dying, Doll’s House demonstrates a controlling relationship can be detrimental for both individuals and The Stranger That Came To Town along with The Fun They Had show that when an individual is suppressed by majority they become despondent.

Faulks could have written him like this to show the transformation in the character between the years, due to the loss of Isabelle and what he has seen during the war. These events may have left Stephen unable to socialise with the men and prove himself as a key figure of authority.

Tobias Wolff’s memoir, ‘This Boy’s life’ explores his record of growing up in 1950’s post-war America. Frequented with tropes surrounding masculinity, identity, and relationships between individuals, Wolff retells his experiences beginning with Jack at age 10, attempting a fresh start with his mother, Rosemary, and continues throughout his adolescence, navigating toxic relationships and societal expectations. Jack’s compelling desire for a notable identify results in him manifesting webs of lies and acting out in problematic means, cracking the façade of his virtuous nature. However, Rosemary’s troubled relationship complex of attracting abusive men, may act as a conduit and instigator towards Jack’s behaviour during his childhood and the proceeding developments as he progresses with

Tobias Wolff’s memoir, ‘This Boy’s life’ explores his record of growing up in 1950’s post-war America. Frequented with tropes surrounding masculinity, identity, and relationships between individuals, Wolff retells his experiences beginning with Jack at age 10, attempting a fresh start with his mother, Rosemary, and continues throughout his adolescence, navigating toxic relationships and societal expectations. Jack’s compelling desire for a worthwhile identify results in him manifesting webs of lies and acting out in problematic means, cracking the façade of his virtuous nature. However, Rosemary’s troubled relationship complex of attracting abusive men, may act as a conduit and instigator towards Jack’s behaviour during his childhood and the

A trickle of fear had her lying motionless with her eyes closed, straining to hear the slightest noise. A deep sigh of regret and the pressure of a body by her side made her acutely aware that she wasn’t alone.

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger’s American classic that has found itself on many “Banned Books” lists because of its profane language and seemingly dark concepts, raises many questions for readers and critics alike surrounding antihero, Holden Caulfield’s cynical disposition. Alex Pitofsky, a professor of English at Appalachian State University, explores a potential cause for Caulfield’s temperament in his 2011 review, “Masculine Competition and Boarding School Culture in The Catcher in the Rye.” By analyzing how Caulfield responds to certain characters and situations in the novel, Pitofsky concludes that a major source of Caulfield’s dissatisfaction with society stems from the importance of materialistic success and masculine competition that is imposed on students in private Boarding Schools.

On the surface, relationships seem important for guidance, support and love, but when an individual depends too strongly on his or her relationships he or she begins to subconsciously nurture pain and sorrow. All four novels demonstrate the internal torment caused by heavy dependency on relationships and the abundance of suffering linked to this reliance. Each author incorporates rhetorical strategies to ensure that their message is grasped by the reader. They are all able to uncover the truth about destructive relationships and convey the emotional issues caused by

As humans, we find members of our families, especially our parents, humiliating and awkward. We often avoid them, hoping to escape the instances that surrender us to social embarrassment. On a different scale, this holds true in the literary works we’ve explored this year. Although the characters in the works The Plague of Doves, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and The Great Gatsby come from different backgrounds and hold a variety of intersectional identifiers, they encounter similar steps while attempting to life lives separate from their historic lineage. The characters in the works develop relationships with surrogate parental figures in order to escape their histories and ultimately, find success. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, this relationship is observed with Beli and La Inca. In The Plague of Doves, it is seen between Evelina and Sister Mary Anita and in The Great Gatsby, it is observed in Jay Gatsby’s relationship with Nick Carraway and Dan Cody.

She was puzzled. Did they want Annabel to follow them? Where would they lead her? Would they lead her out to safety? As she pondered these questions, she thought about all that she had lost. It was right in that moment that she decided she didn’t have much left to lose. As she stood up, her head started to spin, she remembered how she smashed her head in the car crash. Her memories of the crash grew stronger and stronger and she became even more distressed about her parents. Why weren’t they here with her, what had happened to

still brave and believed that her and her family would be together again and would come home.

The juxtaposition between male and female characters in ‘The Sentimental Bloke’ highlights this. Notably, Longford employs Doreen as a foil to the Mick. Doreen’s firm social values clash with the overt criminality of the larrikins (Boyd 9). However, this serves to highlight the sentimental aspect of Bill’s character, rather than impose other values on it. Accordingly the same “comic tension” also exists between Bill’s “harsh street argot” in the inter-titles, and his “tender sentiment” to Doreen (Murray 8). Conversely, Prichard uses similarities between her characters, rather than differences, to allow her protagonist to form a positive relationship. While the relationship between Coonardoo and Hugh is unequal, they “take pride” in each other as workers (Ellis 70). Hugh maintains comparable, reciprocal relationships, with his “right-hand” daughter Phyllis, and his “workmate” mother (Corbould 419). This suggests that these relationships reinforce values of resilience and hard work, in contrast to male friendships. These friendships, such as those in ‘Wake in Fright’, force “drinking” to take “precedence” over “everything else”, as they encourage anti-social behaviour (Kent 38). Likewise, Sam Geary encourages similar behaviour, through his actions and recommendation that Hugh should get drunk in a moment of crisis (Johnson and Johnson 57). This emphasises the positive masculine