Essay Of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley And City Of Glass

It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. This is evident in Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, which reiterates the story of Jeannette who is raised within a family that is both deeply dysfunctional and distinctively vibrant. Jeannette is faced with numerous barriers throughout her life. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeannette develops into a successful adult later in life. One of these obstacles is the lack of a stable home base moulds her into the woman she grows up to be. Throughout her life, Jeannette must cope with the carelessness of her

In the short story “The Glass Roses” by Alden Nowlan. Nowlan portrays the idea that adversity is part of our lives, and this adversity shapes us as individuals. But in the face of adversity an individual must either strive to fulfill their individual self-interests and ideas or abandon them to conform to authority. Nowlan suggests this idea through the character, Stephen and his struggle to conform to authority or pursue his ideas which suggests that humans often bring about changes to themselves in order to adapt to the environment they live in.

How can someone pursue a personal desire if they spent their life trying to conform? Alden Nowlan’s short story, “The Glass Roses” explores this through the protagonist, Stephen. Stephen’s personal desire to feel accepted conflicts with his feeling of having to become like the pulp cutters because he is not mentally or physically ready to fit in with grown men. This results in Chris finding a way to become his own person. Stephen’s journey to pursue his personal desire is shown through setting, character development, and symbolism.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

While it may be tempting to leave society in order to pursue one’s dreams, severing the ties with those whom one knows can result in a world of chaos and instability. One such example can be found in Jeannette Walls’s, The Glass Castle. In this memoir, Walls recounts her volatile childhood that was the result of her parent’s strong beliefs in the importance of self-sufficiency. While it is not looked down upon to be dependent on oneself, when we evaluate individualism through the scope of Jeannette Wall’s dysfunctional life one can tell that more often than not individualism brings instability and results in the negligence in regard to those around them. Thus, the consequences of individualism profoundly outweigh any benefit that is reaped because

Within one’s lifetime, the mark to finding oneself is being able to overcome hardships and difficulties in order to unravel the full potential concealed within them. From being manipulated and deceived, this manages to bring about an ability hidden within oneself that can only be triggered by experiencing what it is like to be a victim of deception. In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and As You Like It by William Shakespeare, each author entraps their protagonists with the role of being manipulative or the victim of being manipulated to further enhance the author’s purpose of revealing or unlocking the hidden potential that arose within the characters.

Even as a full-grown adult, the author of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, still stands out as being different. Jeannette grew up in abnormal circumstances that some might consider neglectful or abusive. From her point of view, her upbringing was just her normal. Today, Walls is a successful author and public speaker. With her wacky stories, hearty life, and positive outlook, she is a likable character that has been formed and molded by her life experiences. Something that Jeannette and her family has dealt with throughout their life is appearing different than others around them. Being different, from looks to character, was a theme that proliferated Jeannette Walls’ book, The Glass Castle, just as being different

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette’s life is one that may seem hard to relate to, but it’s actually not that much different than mine. Thanks to today’s society, the constant need to “fit in” molds more people’s personalities and looks than them actually wanting to be themselves. If I don’t dress a certain way, I’m not beautiful. If my personality is different and unique, I’m weird. If I care about my grades and strive for success, I’m a nerd.

The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, focuses on how a young girl attempts to live a "normal" life, while her own parents struggle to separate themselves from society. The memoir does provide evidence that shows how individualism can be beneficial, but nonetheless, there is also supporting evidence that represents the consequences. In this particular case, the benefits obtaining a sense of individualism don't outweigh the possible consequences, but instead the consequences outweigh the benefits.

Being “yourself” would be the biggest sin in the world of Anthem, a book by Ayn Rand, where one citizen, Equality-72521, lives as not one, but among many. By not learning the word “I” at any time in your life, including birth. Equality, however, found a spot currently unknown, and decided to do a crime worthy of death. He hid there every night, and learned all he could secretly for years. He goes to great lengths to learn much no other person really knew, such as electricity, and didn’t tell anyone else about the light bulb as to make sure he could keep on learning, and in the end risked his life to protect what he learned, independently, so he could change who he was and what he knew.

One’s individuality and freedom are questioned when it does not conform to society’s ideals. This is often demonstrated in real life, as well as in popular literary pieces.

Throughout the film we see Tom lie and manipulate to get closer to Dickie until eventually he tries to become him.

Consider the character of Carl in the film “Yes Man”. Carl joins a unique group who are committed in saying the word ‘yes’ to every situation. This, in essence, forms his new personality and by this he forms a greater sense of exploration. “The world's a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it”. In addition to this, by gaining a sense of individuality we venture away from the notions of normality and apprehend a further extravagant social experience. This is manifested in the novel ‘Bombshells’, as Zoe indicates a greater sense of individuality then most characters in the novel, and by her own venturing of various experiences, she has developed a greater exploration of life. “I’m really très chère; I’m a dame with charisma to spare”. So, in conclusion, we define who we are by our own sense of individuality and exploration.

George R.R. Martin once said, “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” In both stories of Mirror Image by Lena Coakley and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes they have a common theme of identity and about how you find yourself.

Tom Ripley is consistently represented by Highsmith and Minghella as someone who’s always lacked an identity. His overriding ambition to be someone else using the talents of impersonation, forgery and telling lies portrays him as a predator, hunting for congruence, cohesion and meaning in life. From this point onwards, Tom enters a cruel and unstable reality where his obsession with Dickie Greenleaf causes him to kill him and assume his