Cynicism In Santa Land Diaries And White Noise

Julian questions his students why humanity enjoys death in literature, and Henry responds, “Death is the mother of beauty” (Tartt 39). They unanimously agree that death is a mesmerizing form of art; an inevitable one worth losing everything for to create. In order to protect themselves the students see that killing Bunny is a necessary sacrifice, regardless of the consequences. Richard and Henry agree that killing Bunny has enabled them to experience a new thrilling sensation; their lives are now more vivacious and colorful. Charles Macaulay and Francis Abernathy, two of the five remaining students, have completely different reactions. Charles’ drinking habits grow worse, and Francis suffers from panic attacks. By the end of the novel, Richard realizes that Julian’s philosophy regarding death is true. He recalls, “The dead appear to us in dreams, said Julian, because that's the only way they can make us see them; what we see is only a projection, beamed from a great distance, light shining at us from a dead star…” (Tartt 558). This can be seen as either a positive or negative effect of death. In Richard’s case, it is a negative effect because he can never erase the guilt of killing Bunny from his

Throughout the history of literary works, there have been many themes that can be found in all of them such as death. Over time, death has been found to be a prominent theme amongst writers of nearly every era in literary history. As an excellent example, During the Romantic era William Wordsworth’s “We are Seven” gives readers a strange feeling of death that still evades the comprehension of a little girl whose two siblings are deceased. The topic of death can be found later on in history in the work of Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener. In both writings, there are dealings with death.

Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.

The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether its on television or newpaper, you'll probobly hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death effects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.

The way that Death communicates with the reader helps them to see many sides of the narrator. Such as their remarks in the beginning of the book, “A small fact: You are going to die....does this worry you?”. They are trying to tell the reader this, so that they aren't frightened later in the novel. Their emotions fluctuate as humans emotions do causing the reader to feel a relation to Death.

Death is evident all through the book. It’s obvious this book is about death. But it’s the different ways that each character deals with death that the author is trying to get across. He’s saying that we all deal with death and our own grief differently. Some in bad ways and some in

It sets the pace for the extract, and the nature of the people. Death is seen under many lights in The Boat, for instance when the narrator is talking about the sad overflowing ashtray of cigarettes by his bedside, he calls them “grey corpses” that “bear witness to the extinction of the latest spark and silently await the crushing out of the most recent of their fellows.” The association of death with cigarettes frightens the narrator, “And then because I am afraid to be alone with death, I dress rapidly, make a great to-do about clearing my throat….” The narrator uncomfortably fears death assuming it is avoidable. When death is on the mind of the narrator he seems to become tense and the scenes becomes rushed and shady. Death influences writing styles such as diction. Important diction such as “corpses” “terrible” “darkened” “restlessly” and “ineffectual” create a mysterious meager reminiscence of the narrator’s childhood, and where he is

In the play “everyman” death is depicted as something that is terribly feared as no one seemed ready for it, death is perceived as something that takes one away from the pleasures of this world.

Tom and Marcus live out and display the intellectual honesty which Campbell and the Bardo Thodol praise. In order for the hero to change his life and the world for the better, he must self-reflect and accept the call to adventure. The Book of the Dead, which Kennedy openly admires, offers intimate advice for the personal hero's journey. “What happens in death is that there is a ‘gap’ or

In “As I Lay Dying”, the story explores how, through the death and transport of Addie Bundren, characters with varying situations, personalities, and backgrounds deal with her loss. William Faulkner, the author of the novel, depicts each character with terrifyingly human coping mechanisms in the face of death. Some of the methods illustrated are: denial, existential thinking, depression, anxiety, denouncing of a higher power, and irrational thought and action. The reality is, this book will open up a discussion that is needed in high schools, and show young adults just how death can affect a person, “Because so many youth are impacted by loss, the need for both understanding and support from helping professionals is critical.” (Palmer).

Play character, Emily Webb, as a ghost-seeing her living father, contributes a meaningful reflection to discuss, as she says, “I never realized before how troubled and how...how in the dark live persons are” (57). In this world of Emily’s, the dead can visit memories, and look on only from the grave’s perspective at the present, where she pities the living. Those alive never truly know what comes of the dead, and thus mourn and churn at the sight of the unknown, as she correctly states. As death will always stay the same in the past as the future, this ignorance of death provides a similarity. Similarly, life’s fragility, flaws too, hold the same constancy of death; as Wilder’s orchestrations of his characters emphasize both the rapidity at which life can seize, and how blind the living pass through it.

In literature Death is consider an iconic character, which has been involved in few books and movies. Authors can express their own values, attitudes and concerns about life through this character. We are dealing with death constantly, for example, the death of a love one, or even our own death. It’s important to understand how each author was capable to share their deeper feelings and opinions in each adaption of this mysterious character. I will be comparing and analyzing the different attitudes, values, and concerns the authors have captured on their books and also what they are trying to communicate with the character of Death.

While writers have different ways of critiquing American society during these three periods, they try to improve people’s understanding of the world based their perspective of the world. As a result, the authors from these different time periods have similar qualities of critiquing society; they want to escape from society, to discover truth, and to awake

The use of counter culture and ideology can provide unique perspectives on the issues faced by everyone, even those who do not acknowledge it. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh portrays a drug addict who rejects any conventions of normalcy in the pursuit of an alternate reality. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis does the same through the depiction of a rich and greedy Wall Street tycoon. This essay will closely analyze the themes of illusion and reality in Trainspotting and American Psycho. The relationship between the fantasy world and the “real” world in these texts are closely linked and aid the narrative in a criticism of social and structural issues. The texts are often criticized as glorifying drug use and violence however through analyzing the effect of narrative, drug use and culture on the characters reality and illusions will argue that the elements of drug use and violence help in the deconstruction of greed and popular culture in the texts.

Death is probably the most feared word in the English language. Its undesired uncertainty threatens society’s desire to believe that life never ends. Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise tells the bizarre story of how Jack Gladney and his family illustrate the postmodern ideas of religion, death, and popular culture. The theme of death’s influence over the character mentality, consumer lifestyle, and media manipulation is used often throughout DeLillo’s story.