Geoffrey Forsyth's Mud

Hurst uses imagery to show how Brother feels guilt for causing Doodle to die. “I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us.” Brother remembers when Doodle says “Brother, Brother, Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” Brother feels guilt for leaving Doodle once before. When Brother runs away from Doodle, he is not actually running away from him, he is running away from the guilt which Doodle causes him to feel. Brother looks at Doodle and feels guilty for leaving him at a time of trouble before. Hurst uses the rain as a way to symbolize guilt and sorrow. “‘ What are you crying for’ They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices.” In this scene, Hurst shows the guilt in this scene using imagery by showing us Brother crying. This is Hurst’s way of showing us guilt. When Brother cries, it is because he feels guilty of his motivation. His only reason for helping Doodle was because he was ashamed of “having a crippled brother”.

Emily Dickinson’s poem, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes-“is a profound portrayal of the debilitating process of grief human beings undergo when confronted with a horrific tragedy. The response to that ultimate pain is the predominance of numbness, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes-/The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-“(1-2). This is a poem that must be read slowly to become saturated in the melancholy, the dehumanization of suffering as it affects each aspect of the body without reference to the chaotic emotionality of it. The abundance of metaphors within Dickinson’s poem provides the means to empathize the necessity of numbness. It is also through the use of punctuation and capitalization, depicting the presence of a

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 fact that the narrator could not fix the torn part of the jacket can indicate that his family is struggling to afford money for themselves. These certain examples help portray the issues of poverty that the narrator's family struggles.

As the man encounters his family members who died, they appear to be dirty and covered in mud. The role the mud plays is important in the story as it is a symbolization of grief or regrets and the forced distance between him and them. The narrator is constantly trying to hug or physically touch his grandmother and father, and then remembers his important meeting and their mud and restrains himself as he says, “I’d hug you guys, but I don’t want to ruin my

Dark words and phrases are initially sprinkled throughout the poem giving it a sense of despondence. For example, Oliver uses the phrase, “the dark burred/ faintly belching/ bogs” which describes the swamp as dark and grim (6-8). The imagery of the swamp is very dark because it symbolizes the hardships that people may have during their lifetimes. Crossing the swamp is a very difficult task, and Oliver compares it to the challenges of life. Therefore, she states “My bones/ knock together at the pale/ joints” (13-15). This once again demonstrates the difficulty of crossing the swamp as Oliver faces many physical challenges including the pain of her old bones. The author transitions from these dark and negative images to illustrations of hope and growth in the next few lines. For example, she describes “a poor/ dry stick given/ one more chance by the whims/ of swamp water” to take root and grow (28-30). This demonstrates how people may face tremendously difficult obstacles to overcome in their lifetimes similar to a dry stick having difficulty taking root. However, these challenges allow people to attain success. Without struggle, there would be no achievement in life. It is the hardships in life that truly allow people to appreciate success once it is achieved. Oliver concludes the fabulous piece with more uplifting and positive imagery of a

In the beginning of the short story, as Brother reflects on Doodle’s life, the author uses personification and foreshadowing to create a mood of remorse. As he gazes out of the window into his backyard, Brother states that “the graveyard flowers were blooming. ...speaking softly the names of our dead” (Hurst 1). The flowers provide flashbacks of the past, and foreshadow a loss of life. The loneliness felt by Brother causes readers to consider how they would feel if their loved one was gone. As Brother observes the seasons, it is noted that “summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born” (Hurst 1). The personifications of the seasons as stages in the cycle of life and death creates an unsure and uncertain mood. The shift between seasons creates an idea of change and uncertainty of events to come. Hurst creates a mood of remorse through

The way that the boys’ dad surveys the ruin very disappointed and angry suggests that the destruction will damage the well being of the family. This foreshadows how Brother’s actions will disappoint the family because the hurricane correlates with Brother’s actions, which were caused by his expectations of Doodle, and the damages done by the hurricane disappoint his father. This is why Hurst utilizes the symbol of the hurricane to demonstrate how the brothers relationship is based around Brother’s destruction due to his expectations of Doodle.

Once submerged into the swamp, her human body and “pale bones” contradict the obscure, “peerless” and “pathless” environment. The contrast between light and dark imagery such as “pale bones” and “black earth soup” emphasize her sense of loss and displacement within natural world. Through words relating to the human anatomy, she attempts to surface the swamp’s pulling control over her. The initial incompatibility between her and the swamp continue as she fights for “foothold, fingerhold” out of her immediate situation and back to the shore, before she entered. In the midst of wrestling for mental control over her situation, repeating “s” sounds reveal her sinking position and how she succumbs to her environment. Sibilants such as “slick,” “silent,” “sink,” and “slack,” force her into the mud. Once absorbed, he previously “burred” perspective clashes with the soft feeling in the mud. The speaker's description of the swamp when in it, contradicts the earlier assumptions made at a physical distance. The previously “wet, thick” mud is actually “not so wet as much as painted.” Rather than submissive to her environment, she is passive by entirely accepting her surprised reaction. The switch to “I feel” is another pause, as she contemplates her surrounding as she experiences a raw moment rather than standing on the edge of it.

To begin, Will’s Grandpa made a blanket of roses for their Grandma to be buried with. The blanket of roses symbolized the town peoples’ grief for this beloved character that passed away. “The heavy smell of roses drifted up,

Someone will always die and they will have a funeral, but can you imagine losing someone close to you? How about you brother? In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” there are many situations when death is among Doodle and his body. James Hurt wrote the story the “Scarlet Ibis” about a boy that was suppose to be a miscarriage and even the doctor said that he would not survive. He lives on with his brother to help him through his adventurous life. The brother is very ashamed that his young brother came to be disabled and he teaches his to walk. All of this James Hurt creates through his writing. Throughout essay there will be multiple ways the author is expression the tone. Through the use of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism, James Hurst creates a Mournful tone in his short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”.

Notwithstanding their partner’s contempt of reading and writing, both the father in “The Boat,” and the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” continue to search for reprieve through their respective books and diary.

The main character Matt, along with his wife and children, had to deal with the death of one of his sons Frank. At the beginning of the story, Matt seems to have an unbearable amount of grief, stress, and pressure. Most of this is caused by his wife who seems to not want her son's killer out walking the streets. By the end of the story, Matt had killed Strout, his son’s killer, and the last line was “he shuddered with a sob that he kept silent in his heart” (Dubus 74). This line alludes that Matt ended up worse than when he started, almost to the point where he has more guilt and regrets what he did. In addition to character development, Dubus uses imagery as well. The descriptive words in this short story allow the reader to get into the scenes with the characters, and to feel what the characters felt. In the midst of one of the flashbacks, Dubus sets up the scene very well, and makes the reader feel like they are there. For example, “They were sitting on the living room floor watching television, Frank sitting on the couch, and Mary Ann just returning from the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches” (Dubus 65). This set up the scene before Strout came in and shot Frank, and Dubus uses this continuously throughout the story. The imagery used allows you to have the possibility to understand why the killers

*Symbolism: This is pretty self-explanatory as to how it’s symbolism: ““Me, cleaning my mother’s blood off the wall, represented the ‘tornado’ breaking in and destroying her face (I liked to call my mother’s boyfriend the ‘tornado’.) After he would hit, everything would look like it had been caught in a whirlwind–our apartment, our sanity, and my mother’s face. I was cleaning up after the tornado hit my house and diminished everything. Washing my mom’s blood, which was shed from time to time; a sacrifice to make him happy. He lived for blood–her blood, enjoying every fist that hit her flesh, and every scream that took place. While he broke televisions, stereos, VCRs and the dining room table, it didn’t compare to the breaking of her mind. My mom was never the same, and neither was ! . .

  In the play, descriptive language teaches the audience more about the surroundings than what the characters are actually saying to one another.  "I've not been in this house--it's more than a year" (6), Mrs. Hale tells the county attorney.  It is a very run down house, and the audience discovers there are no signs of anyone really ever being happy.  The kitchen is dirty, and the women begin to feel uneasy about being in a house where there is nothing but darkness and coldness.  The darkness is to signify how alone and empty Mrs. Wright was feeling while living with her husband.  Mrs. Wright did not feel wanted, and she felt like all hope was lost which the audience recognizes with the help of Mrs. Hale's saying, "...he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters.  Just to pass the time of day with him.  Like a raw wind that gets to the bone" (11).  Mrs. Hale conveys these important details to Mrs. Peters, which proves that the environment in the Wright house was dark and dreary.  The audience can imagine living in house where there is nothing but solitude and misery.  The solemn atmosphere makes the readers start to understand how lonely and depressing living in the house actually was.