Feet By Seamus Deane Summary

The idea of death can be, and is an enormously disturbing, unknown issue in which many people can have many different opinions. To some individuals, the process of life can progress painstakingly slow, while for others life moves too fast. In the excerpt We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates, a innocent farm boy named Judd Mulvaney has an eye-opening encounter by a brook near his driveway. During this encounter, Judd faces a chain of feelings and emotions that lead to his change of opinion of the issues of life and death, and change as a character. This emblematic imagery of life and death, as well as jumpy, and retrospective tones benefit the development of Judd as an innocent child as he begins to change into a more conscious and aware adult.

The language that Coates uses engulfs the reader into his thoughts by using vivid descriptions and actions. As he reveals his thoughts and concerns for his son, we are placed in the mist of his fear and experiences. Although he is able to paint his world for us, he also allows us to contemplate and interpret some of the meanings behind his words. Much as if we, ourselves were developing the thoughts and ideas behind his points of view. In this sense, he is telling the reader what to think while allowing them to process the information he has presented. Even though his ideas are drawn from personal experience and may have no factual backing, the mere contemplation of its correlation or being given some truth to the statement. Additionally, a tone is set throughout the article, his language not only captures the mind but emotions. His descriptive language intensifies when he

The narrator though an educator, is not very good at verbalizing his emotions. He tends to be the person who keeps everything inside

The last line in the poem “and since they were not the ones dead, turned to their own affairs” lacks the emotions the reader would expect a person to feel after a death of a close family member. But instead, it carries a neutral tone which implies that death doesn’t even matter anymore because it happened too often that the value of life became really low, these people are too poor so in order to survive, they must move on so that their lives can continue. A horrible sensory image was presented in the poem when the “saw leaped out at the boy’s hand” and is continued throughout the poem when “the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh…the hand was gone already…and that ended it”, this shows emphasis to the numbness the child felt. The poem continues with the same cold tone without any expression of emotion or feelings included except for pain, which emphasizes the lack of sympathy given. Not only did the death of this child placed no effect on anyone in the society but he was also immediately forgotten as he has left nothing special enough behind for people to remember him, so “since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs”. This proves that life still carries on the same way whether he is present or not, as he is insignificant and that his death

The tale of “The Sisters” has dark images related to faith. Darkness is shown when the priest, Father Flynn, is lying in his deathbed: "When the family went up to the altar, there he lay solemn and copious” (6). This is a grave portrayal, in the look of his eyes and his face. The

A narrator, who is without a name, tells of his first hand experiences throughout the story. This is in contrast to ‘Miss Brill’ in which narrative is delivered in the third person, with the use of free indirect speech to depict the story and portray the characters. By Wells selecting a first person narrative he draws the reader closer into the character’s mind set. This gives Wells the ability to convey the primary characters full spectrum of emotional thought, from open mindedness to the conflict and fear within him. First narrative provides the reader insight to thoughts and observations therefore adding suspense of the unknowing into the gothic style.

My brother was born a silent thing in the midst of a harsh winter. At four years old, I was struck dumb by his beauty; he had wide pale eyes and lips that made me understand the meaning of rosebud. I envied him, knowing he’d be loved more than me. I should’ve known that darker things, too, would desire him.

Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the

When the narrator first encounters the girl, his friend's older sister, he can only see her silhouette in the “light from the half-opened door”. This is the beginning of his infatuation with the girl. After his discovery, he is plagued by thoughts of the girl which make his daily obligations seem like “ugly, monotonous, child's play”. He has become blinded by the light. The narrator not only fails to learn the name of his “girl”, he does not realize that his infatuation with a woman considerably older than himself is not appropriate. He relishes in his infatuation, feeling “thankful [he] could see so little” while he thinks of the distant “lamp or lighted window” that represents his girl. The narrator is engulfed by the false light that is his futile love.

The author carefully crafts the story so that every detail contributes to a certain unique or single effect, whether it is as complex as irony or as simple as depiction of feelings. The Husband describes his absolute love for Ann as he reminisces about the years he spent with her and how deeply he "knows"

In Alice Munro’s “Silence”, Juliet, a single working mother, is abandoned by her daughter Penelope, who left without a warning or a trace to explore her spirituality and start a new life for herself. Juliet is at first baffled and distraught, as she cannot understand why Penelope would leave. She had thought that Penelope had always been very happy at home. Juliet never does hear definitively why Penelope left, but throughout this short story she analyzes why it might be and what it means for her life now. The use of simple and straightforward diction, emotional monologues, and harsh conclusions show a drastic case of how children can grow apart from their parents. These techniques align with Poe’s theory that a story should evoke a unique

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1839, can be compared to Poe’s later work “The Tell-Tale Heart”, published in 1843. In both gothic stories, there are physical deformities, mental illness, and despicable crimes. In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Roderick Usher, the main character, and one of the last of the Usher blood line, had a twin sister, Madeline, who suffered from a mysterious illness. After believing she had died, Roderick learned that was not the case --Madeline was still alive-- yet he buried her anyway. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, an unnamed narrator lived with an old man, whom he was plotting to murder because he wanted to help rid the world of the old man’s evil eye. In both Poe’s stories death is a very prominent theme (Davis).

2a) Adichie uses a narrative point of view to explore the theme of domestic violence. The book is narrated in the first person by a 15 year old who is directly affected by domestic violence. Because of her young age she is quiet honest and this allows her to paint a great picture to the audience of the brutal abuse that Eugene bestows upon his family. This is as a result of her sensitive, intelligent and observant nature.

As a final point, death is present during this short story and it generates fear among the characters. Usher acknowledges to his friend, the narrator, he will soon die. Thus far he declares to his friend that his worry does not fall upon death itself, but the fear of death. “I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm.’" (Poe) Usher’s longing to evade fear of death creates yet another worry. Under strange circumstances, Madeleine rises from the grave and murders her brother. Watching a sibling rise from the grave and kill her own brother by simply coming into contact with him, the narrator decides to flee the mansion.

The fictional life and death of a twelve year old little boy named Robert is vividly articulated in this moving tale by Thomas Wolfe. The reader learns of the boy’s life through four well developed points of view. The reader’s first glimpse into Robert’s character is expressed through a third person narrative. This section takes place on a particularly important afternoon in the boy’s life. The second and third views are memories of the child, through the eyes of his mother and sister. His mother paints the picture of an extraordinary child whom she loved dearly and his sister illustrates the love that the boy had for others. Finally, an account from the narrator is given in the ending. It is in the last section of this work that the