Historical Criticism In The Destructors By Graham Green

Unlike the changes between the narration of the story, I didn’t like how Doerr wrote in an unorganized fashion. I personally thought that this made the book more confusing to read because the timeline of events was all over the place. For instance, the book begins in the middle of the Saint-Malo siege. I was very confused at what was going on and why this part of France was being bombed and wasn’t given much context to figure out that this book was taking place in the midst of World War II. I didn’t fully understand what was happening until two chapters later, when Doerr chose to write the chapter in the same time period. As for the two chapters in between, the following chapter went back to the very beginning of the war and the strength of the Third Reich. This was helpful information so I knew what time period the book was taking place. The chapter following that one was written as 1934, before any part of the war had taken place. The disorder of events made it hard to put together what was happening in the book versus what was actually happening during World War II at that specific point in time. If this book had been written chronologically, I think that it would’ve been much easier to understand and there wouldn’t be as much confusion in the order of

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a prime example of social criticism. The story sets in the 24th century where people race jet cars; the author’s idea of the future. It shows a flawed social structure, controlled by the media and government with banning and burning of books, and suppressing society’s minds from history. Their logical thought was that it would keep society from thinking too much, which in turn would prevent bad thoughts, and to keep them “happy all the time”. The book tells a story of Guy Montag, the protagonist, and his life as a book burner. He was an “instrument” of the government, a firefighter that was used to suppress information from people by burning all books. The characters live in a world where the past is hidden from them. The government has brain washed society and they are forced to contemplate on what is true and what is not. Montag plays a round character that undergoes change throughout the story. He starts as a narrow-minded character that does what he is told, no questions asked. He has lived his life thinking he was happy. As a reader, you will begin to sense a character change in Montag as this paper will analyze certain events that occur in his life representing an individual fighting against conformity. It begins with control of the masses by censorship as society is censored from history by book burning and oppressive technology. The rise of Montag’s character development starts to socially rebel from societies norms causing him

The Wars, written by Timothy Findley, is a story about World War I, and consists of many shocking images passed over to the reader. Findley accomplishes to pull the reader into the narrative itself, so that the reader manages to feel an impact upon him/her-self about what is read. If it was not for this specific skill, or can also be seen as a specific genre, the novel would not have been as successful as it is now. Also, something that helps the book be so triumphant, there is the fact that Findley never overwhelms the reader with too many gruesome details about the World War I. Instead, he breaks the book down to help the reader calm down from everything that is happening. Throughout the essay, there is going to be some commenting on a

The novel is written in a style which makes it look as if it is historically accurate by the inclusion of real people, facts and events. This is what makes the underlying message of the novel even more chilling. The main point of view of "Regeneration" is an omniscient narrator, however shifting the perspective from character to character is a tool used by the novelist to gain the reader's empathy as they relate the horrific and traumatic experiences that were brought about in the war.

The Terror of History: On the Uncertainties of Life in Western Civilization by Dr. Teofilo R. Ruiz centers around the methods in which people cope with major historical tragedies comprising of the human condition. He categorizes these coping mechanisms into religion and the world to come, the world of matter and senses, and the lure of beauty and knowledge. To connect the reading with the History 2C course, the subjects of mysticism, heresy, and witchcraft are particular examples of how the masses utilized religion for the purpose of discovering life’s meaning and justifying the world’s destructive nature. Essentially, I agree with the practice

John Wyndham wrote the “The Chrysalids”, as a science fiction novel, in post-war England during 1955. The atrocities of the past decade, the Holocaust in Europe, the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan and the beginnings of the Cold War between the Americans and the Russians, had affected the whole world. Although Wyndham wrote this as a science fiction novel, it can also be interpreted as a social commentary about the effects of war and mass destruction on humanity. Similar atrocities of ignorance and bigotry, hypocrisy and inhumane acts are evident in the novel as well as in society past and present.

Kurt Vonnegut’s background had an endless influence upon his writing. In his early years, Vonnegut was a private in the 106th infantry division in World War II. He and five scouts were caught behind enemy lines, and then captured. They were held POWs and were beaten on various occasions. In 1945, they witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Kept during this time in a slaughterhouse, this is part of the inspiration for Slaughterhouse-five. After being released from the Slaughterhouse, Vonnegut called Dresden “utter destruction” and “carnage unfathomable”. This distressing time in his life led to one of the many themes of Slaughterhouse-five which is that nothing good can come from war and a massacre. This theme

The book Days Of Destruction written by both Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco offers a first hand account into some of the United States most impoverished areas, some not only the most impoverished towns in the U.S. but also in the western hemisphere. The town of Pine Ridge, South Dakota acts as an example of the long-standing marginalization of Native Americans conducted by the U.S. government, which has been taking place for over a hundred and fifty years. The ramifications of the policies put into effect by the U.S. government can still be seen in present time in this small reservation town. While the town of Welch, West Virginia struggles in a similar fashion due to capitalist exploitation through the mistreatment of the coal mining companies that operate in the Appalachian Mountains. These companies mistreated, underpaid and stole property from its inhabitants, leaving them helpless to support themselves. Both of these small towns suffer from being oppressed by outside forces leaving the population in a desperate situation, unable to recover from past exploits

The two stories “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence are being analyzed through literary devices on how they demonstrate the shared theme. Greene and Lawrence both use setting, symbolism, and like-minded characters to demonstrate the theme of the destruction and effects of war are long lasting in the stories “The Destructors” and “The Rocking Horse Winner”.

War takes effect on almost every aspect of a community. It can alter the way we think about fellow people, it can create prejudices or injustices, it can destroy huge amounts of land, culture, and other tangible parts of a community and it can drastically drop the number of people within a community. Timothy Findley makes a point to show his readers the amount of deaths have occurred as one reads the novel. Effect this has is to remind people that war is not simply an event in which many good stories have came out of it, it is a time of tragedy and the author makes a point to highlight the importance of recognizing the number of men and women who have dedicated their lives to defending their country. Thousands of people die in the war and hundreds

Harry Mulisch once said, that “he did not just write about World War II, he was WWII”. He uses this mentality in a lot of his writing to allude to himself in the works. Being that during WWII he was just a boy, he saw many terrible events at a young age. A works that is a prime example of this is The Assault, a novel about a young boy who, lives through a terrible night, in which his family was murdered and his house burnt down. In The Assault, the novel itself is an allusion to his life. In The Assault, Harry Mulisch uses allusion to bring cultural and contextual content to the works.

“It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (Bradbury 1). As a force of nature, fire demolishes objects uncontrollably once set free. Eating each individual object slowly, savouring the process of destruction. In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451, Montag is the liberator of fire, using it to burn books, to watch them catch aflame and flutter in the air until they turn into a pile of black ash. As a fireman, Montag relishes the feeling of burning books, however, when he meets Clarisse McClellan, his perspective on his life changes. Gradually, Montag starts to shed of his skin and meets Faber, a retired English professor who feeds him with poetry and books. Ultimately, he finds his true sanctuary with a group of intellectual hobos next to the bank of the river. As Montag begins his journey with fire, he perceives it as a force of destruction, however, as he progresses on his quest to attain a clearer version of himself, the fire acts as the ash of phoenix, allowing him to reborn.

One’s perspective of the world can alter by an event. Events can alter one’s perspective of the world when one decides to take interest in an event or participate in one. In these three short stories, “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway, “Speaking of Courage” by Tim O’Brien, and “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, “Soldier’s Home” and “Speaking of Courage” are very alike when Norman Bowker, and Krebs, the protagonist, has just returned from being drafted in the war. Norman and Krebs are incapable to resume their daily lives. The short story, “The Destructors.”

However, the discussion of whether the bomb should have been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki still continues. What would happen if the bombs were never dropped? Was it right to incinerate not only soldier, but also innocent civilians? These rhetorical questions may never be answered, but analyzing the effects and possible theories could lead to a conclusion. Furthermore, Hiroshima illustrates the personal incidents to help the audience understand and feel the individual’s physiological and emotional trauma: to cause the reader to feel like they are personally at Hiroshima or

The discovery of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s led to the development of a robust coal industry in the eastern part of Pennsylvania that grew rapidly and contributed greatly to the history and the economy of Pennsylvania. The book The Face of Decline written by Thomas Dublin, Walter Licht, provides a well written historical and personal account of the discovery, growth, and finally the collapse of the anthracite coal industry in Pennsylvania in a chronological format. Half way through the book one starts to notice some changes in the authors format to cause and effect. The change occurs in order to discuss the cause and resulting effect of events in the region and the solutions. The story is one of great growth and opportunity in the early years which are highlighted by the documented economic growth experienced and supported through testimony within the eastern Pennsylvania coal region. After a period of economic prosperity and community growth from 1900 through 1940 challenges began to erode and occur that created problems for the community and the economy that the coal industry provided. Finally the region’s economy suffered horrendous losses as described by interviews of local residents and families who lived and experienced the rise of the region’s economy. Many of the scars are still evident by the blight and decaying scenes one would experience by traveling through the region’s communities that once fueled the American economy with the energy