The two stories I'm comparing are Crossroads: A Sad Vaudeville by Carlos Solorzano, and Nobody is Ever Missing (NIEM) , by Catherine Lacey. In Crossroads, the main character, a woman, hides her age by doctoring photos of herself before posting them online, where she meets men, and wears a physical veil when meeting them. Unsurprisingly, none of the men she meets recognize her (at least not after seeing her true face), and so she suffers for her lies. The main character in NIEM, Elyria, is a woman who struggles to maintain a mask of normalcy while around her husband, while her interior life rapidly deteriorates. When her mental breakdown becomes too much for her to handle while maintaining her traditional lifestyle with her husband, she disappears, …show more content…
The main character in Crossroads endures constant disappointment and sadness when she reveals herself to her potential suitors and realizes that they can't accept her as she is. This is shown when the woman walks away from the man, disappointed once more, and throws away the flower she brought, which served as a symbol of hope throughout the book. In NIEM, Elyria struggles to stay connected with her husband despite the internal breakdown she is enduring, which she feels like she has to hide from him, and her changing feelings toward him. She tries very hard to remain the woman he knows, despite her quickly changing identity, because she is afraid that she will lose him if he sees the struggle she is hiding. This is shown when she talks in the first chapter about how she goes on about her daily routine every day, despite her depression and anxiety. And neither of these women are entirely wrong in believing that the men in their lives won't accept them- the man in Crossroads suspects that the woman he is speaking with is the woman he knows, but finds that idea inconceivable once she is revealed to him. Elyria's husband treats her disappearance as an immature whim, instead of considering that there may be graver motives behind her leaving, and that he may have contributed to her desire to escape. When faced with …show more content…
The woman in Crossroads alters photos as an metaphorical veil when she alters her photos, and wears a physical veil in public to disguise herself. Meanwhile Elyria attempts to maintain a veil of normalcy around everyone in her life while enduring a slow mental breakdown in private. The main difference between these two stories is the way that the two women deal with their individual struggles with the reasons behind their feelings that they must hide parts of themselves. Crossroads is a short story, but at the end, when the woman leaves, you get the feeling that she will continue to be held hostage by this cycle of illusion and regret- that though she may be tired from it, exhausted with the lies, her insecurity is such that she can't imagine finding someone who will love her as she is, were she to finally be honest about herself. Meanwhile Elyria, fed up, renounces her exhaustion and refuses to be held hostage- she leaves the life that has broken her and attempts to find herself again the only way she can. Alone and in a strange country, she attempts to get to the root of her dissatisfaction with herself and her life. While the woman in Crossroads is all about pleasing others, often at the expense of her own emotions, Elyria is all about self-preservation, often at the expense of people in her life that she loves. Elyria knows herself well enough to know when
Estella symbolizes isolation and manipulates men to break their hearts. Her name means “star” and she is bright and beautiful like a star, however she is distant and cold like one too. Like a start, men love to gaze upon her, but can not touch her. In the story Estella tells pip that she has no heart, no sympathy, and no sentiment. (chapter 29) Estella
The 19th century was a time period full of disagreements and wishful thinking. During this time, African Americans were trying to become free from slavery. This led to a Civil War. The 1800’s were a hard time for African Americans, after the Civil War many expressed their thoughts and feelings through plays like Minstrel Shows and other forms of theatre.
“A Rose for Emily’’ By William Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman,” are two short stories that both incorporate qualities of similarities and difference. Both of the short stories are about how and why these women changed for lunacy. These women are forced into solitude because of the fact that they are women. Emily’s father rejects all of her mates; the husband of Gilman Narrator (John) isolates her from stimulation of any kind. Emily is a recluse trapped in a depreciated home and the narrator in Gilman’s story is a delusional woman confined to her bedroom. These
It is not an uncommon occurrence for a person to attend a funeral in their lifetime. They will experience the heavy feeling in their heart, hear the moaning and crying, and observe all the grief-stricken people, wiping tear-stained cheeks and wearing depressing, dark colors. Each person in this scene is attempting to comprehend what they have lost. Loss, whether physical or mental, can dismantle a person. The bonds and connections that people forge with each other defines their existence and gives them the drive to continue living, but when these bonds are broken the brain cannot cope with the detachment. A person is particularly vulnerable in this state and will do anything to replace the gaping hole that lingers in their life. In the novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and the Shakespearean play Hamlet, two women are put through various kinds of loss. While these women--Trudy and Gertrude--appear weak, they willingly accept the enchantments of Claude and Claudius only after enduring hardships which skew their judgments, revealing the effect of trauma and depression when a relationship is lost.
The first aspect both stories have in common is the fact that both of the women are oppressed by a man in their life.“The
As far as the development and demise of vaudeville, there is much to be said. But to truly understand its rise and fall, first one must understand what vaudeville is. Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of entertainment that was popular in the United States from the early 1880s until the mid 1930s. Each performance consisted of a series of unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, impersonators, acrobats, illustrated songs, jugglers, scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, and movies.
It is clear that our country 's criminal justice system is the new Jim Crow; with a huge majority of felons being African American, it is obvious that people of color have it harder when it comes to crime sentences. We must acknowledge that mass incarceration and the Jim Crow era are greatly similar. Minstrel shows, which showed black men to be lazy, dumb, and clownish, once justified the oppression of african americans. Many now believe that gangsta rap does just the same and is the modern day minstrel show, by portraying blacks to be drug dealers, angry, and violent men. Though many people believe that gangsta rap reinforces these stereotypes, it’s important for one to realize that this form of expression is not a modern day version of blackface performances.
When I think of false identities, two stories come to mind. "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield. Both these stories deal with women who are nearly obsessed with lives that aren't their own. Both stories illustrate a woman who has entered into this `false reality.' By comparing and contrasting the characters and setting, we are able to take a look at the similarities and differences. Although these both deal with similar women, they also have great differences. Miss Brill is content with leading this false life once a week but Mathilde in "The Necklace" refuses to be happy unless she is given all
Instead of leaving him, she exposes all of the
Even in her state of anger she cannot help but once again be the restrained and subdued one in their relationship. Despite all of the happiness she has found with Rochester she still cannot bring herself to stay in a relationship in which she sacrifices part of herself, because she doesn’t know how to reconcile her need feel like she belongs and is taken care of while at the same time remaining uncorrupted.
Evelines situation becomes an inner battle between the ideas of leaving and staying, all of the thoughts she have sadly become a reality, so many ideas of better places, better times and an overall better life. Eveline is tired: “She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odor
A tragic hero in literature is a type of character who has fallen from grace, where the downfall suggests feelings of misfortune and distress among the audience. The tragic flaw of the hero leads to their demise or downfall that in turn brings a tragic end. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” The characteristics of a tragic hero described by Aristotle are hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis and catharsis which allows the audience to have a catharsis of arousing feelings.
But where the story began to take a turn was when Marla, the woman that he met in the support groups, called and stated she was in the process of committing suicide. He pretty much blew her off when Tyler took the initiative to go to her apartment where he becomes her coping mechanism by using sex. But while the narrator (Edward) thinks that he is having some sort of nightmare not understanding it is actual reality. Then noticing the tension between the two the narrator states that they Marla and Tyler remind him of his parent because he never sees them in the same place at once. The only time that they spent in the same room was during sexual intercourse. He narrator was jealous because of the way he felt for Marla, but just too afraid to express it because she was already sleeping with Tyler. This is why the tension was so high.
In, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, by Joyce Carol Oates and “Eveline”, by James Joyce, two characters prove to be completely different but share few similarities as well. In both short stories, the main characters, Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” and Eveline in “Eveline”, are both teenage girls who face problems at home. Connie and Eveline who are both caught up in their own cultures in different times are Both girls seem like they have it all going for them but what they conclusively share in common is their final decision bringing them to their downfall. The theme in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” and “Eveline,” possess and unyielding insecurity which stems from their family lives. Everything had two sides to it, one for one home and one for the other. Each of the girl 's home lives was oppressive and restraining. Making them both have to grow up faster.
Marriage is of paramount importance in The Importance of Being Earnest, both as a primary force motivating the plot and as a subject for philosophical speculation and debate. The question of the nature of marriage appears for the first time in the opening dialogue between Algernon and his butler, Lane, and from this point on the subject never disappears for very long. Algernon and Jack discuss the nature of marriage when they dispute briefly about whether a marriage proposal is a matter of “business” or “pleasure,” and Lady Bracknell touches on the issue when she states, “An engagement should