Auden’s statement “Poetry makes nothing happen” reflects the idea that it is not the duty of writing to effect political or social change; as a result, the purpose of fiction is merely to let the reader see the world through the perspective of the writer. In Atonement, Briony seeks atonement for her actions; despite her greatest efforts, Briony’s novel is not an effective act of atonement because writing does not have the power to inflict the change she wishes to see.
Auden’s statement reflects the idea that it is not the duty of poetry to effect emotional, political or social change. In a negative sense, it suggests that writers and artists are incapable of creating change and rousing groups of people. In a positive light, it alludes
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What sense of hope or satisfaction could a reader draw from such an account? Who would want to believe that they never met again, never fulfilled their love? Who would want to believe that, except in the service of the bleakest realism? I couldn’t do it to them. (McEwan 350)
By doing this, Briony is in effect attempting to change history; the story that will survive is the one where Robbie and Cecilia live happily ever after rather than the bleak reality of the truth. Briony decides to immortalize them in a positive light because she wants the story of Robbie and Cecilia living happily ever after to be the truth:
No one will care what events and which individuals were misinterpreted to make a novel. I know there’s always a certain kind of reader who will be compelled to ask, But what really happened? The answer is simple: the lovers survive and flourish. As long as there is a single copy, a solitary typescript of my final draft, then my spontaneous, fortuitous sister and her medical prince survive to love. (McEwan
| |of forbidden love and the quest to keep it alive. The reader seems to |
Reflections Within is a non-traditional stanzaic poem made up of five stanzas containing thirty-four lines that do not form a specific metrical pattern. Rather it is supported by its thematic structure. Each of the five stanzas vary in the amount of lines that each contain. The first stanza is a sestet containing six lines. The same can be observed of the second stanza. The third stanza contains eight lines or an octave. Stanzas four and five are oddly in that their number of lines which are five and nine.
stories of the tragic effect of a love so strong that it can kill sets the table for the
The last two lines of the poem are a timid reflection on what might happen “Had I the Art to stun myself/ With Bolts—of Melody!” (23-24). The idea that creation is a power that can get loose and injure even the creator illuminates why in this poem the artist positions herself firmly as a mere spectator. In these first two poems, we meet a Dickinson who is not entirely familiar to us—even though we are accustomed to her strong desire for privacy, these poems can be startling in the way they reveal the intensity of Dickinson’s fears. She is, after all, shrinking from what is dearest to her—nature, one of her favorite subjects, becomes a harsh judge, and poetry, her favored medium of communication, can suddenly render the reader “impotent” and the writer “stun[ned]” (19, 23). The extremity of her positions in shrinking from the small and beautiful things she loves creates the sense that this is just the beginning of a journey by leaving so much room for change.
The irony of each story came to light at the close of the writings. The ending turned out to be something totally different than what it would initially have thought to be, because of how the narratives
Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.
Suffering is embedded in our daily lives. There are devastating things going on in our daily environments and yet, people seldom realize this as they occupy themselves with other tasks. W.H. Auden’s, Musée des Beaux Arts, is a statement on human perceptions and how we use them to observe, or block out human suffering. While we are doing ordinary things like eating, or opening a window, bad things can be happening to others and it is as easy as looking up, to see what is actually going on. Auden illustrates societies’ indifference to human suffering through the form of his poem and by alluding to artwork that compares human perceptions and juxtaposes ordinary images with images of suffering and tragedy.
In the final lines of the poem Auden uses irony to show the government’s role in creating a certain society. In Auden’s eyes the government considers a working-class income, good credit, and a sense of national loyalty and social duties to be the only things necessary to make one’s life complete. He seems to feel that, by insisting on material wealth, society has given government an opportunity to control its actions by creating a world in which a “desirable” lifestyle can only be obtained by adhering to a strict set of ideals and philosophies. The poem can also be viewed as a spoof on certain aspects of the typical middle-class lifestyle. It mocks what many feel are necessities of modern life and points out man’s lack of true feeling for himself and others. But, most importantly, it paints a picture of a world in which people are willing to give up their personal dreams,
Throughout this lay, there is a sense of hope in the author's tone, almost good-natured and kind hearted. She also sets a series of sorrowful tones that creates an atmosphere for the troubles the lovers have gone through to be in the presence of each other. However, the majority of the story is the happiness and joy from the lovers finally being with one another. Toward the
Time is forever moving forward, constantly progressing and as time progresses, societal values and beliefs adjust and develop, yet there are some values and ideas that remain constant. Despite suffering being a natural and an unavoidable aspect of human life, people have developed the skill of avoiding its existence. Even though created in disparate time periods, Ovid’s ‘Icarus’, Breughel’s ‘Fall Of Icarus’ and Auden’s ‘Musee des Beaux Arts’, all present their society's principle of human indifference towards the suffering and the continuance of the human life, as suffering occurs. W. H. Auden’s ‘Musee des Beaux Arts’ exposes society’s indifference towards suffering. Through the poet's conversational tone, Auden places the reader in front of Breughel’s painting ‘Fall Of Icarus’, and uses the piece to manifest how self-concerned human beings are.
Arguments for the position held by Atwood with respect to the perfect ending to a work of fiction can be drawn from the societal relationships such as marriages and romantic affairs. These relationships are perceived as beautiful and comes with a form of fulfillment, thus should have a beautiful ending. Life should be easy and relationships should be successful. The ‘happy ending’ adopted by Atwood is an illustration of how easy life should be and how successful relationships such as marriages should turn out. She
Through symbolism, McEwan develops the concept of shattered love. Uncle Clem’s verse indicates the outcomes of Cecilia and Robbie’s love, considering they broke the vase the day they discover their love for each other, signifying their love would not be forever. Moreover, it
Auden is a poet from the XXth century. As such, he has suffered the wars that have stricken the period. The ekphrasis, which is a literary description of a work of art, is used by Auden in his poems “The Shield of Achilles” and “Musée des Beaux Arts”. As part of his great concerns were the political and psychological conflicts that existed then. In the aforementioned poems, Auden uses the ekphrasis to denounce people’s indifference to human misery.
The use of character, style, and point of view that Atwood uses to write this story gives you a real feeling of pity for these characters, only having horrible lows or average highs in their relationships. It appears that there is no great place to be in her story. Reading this story for the first time, the reader could assume Atwood has an obsession with bad relationships, boring average marriages, and death. The key to understanding what the author is trying to convey is realizing how the stories all link together and how they all lack the essence of excitement and desire. The author brings the idea that without focusing on the “how and why” of life and only focusing on the “what, what, what” will leave you with an average
This is a conflict she has with herself while she is becoming an adult. Briony invites readers into her feelings but later contradicts herself as she hides all her emotions from view. Since she is still a child she tends to take things for their literal meaning. However, she is ecstatic to become an adult since she is determined to use feelings in her stories which would help her stories to begin the transformation from princes and princesses to mature topics. Briony loses her innocence when she discovered that reality is not like the stories she read when growing up. Her innocence is taken from her when she realizes that by casting Robbie as a villain in her plot and by forcing him to be a villain in real life has different outcomes than a story. Briony loses her innocence mentally as she still holds on to the fact everything is okay as if she rewrites Robbie’s and Cecilia’s relationship a happy ending versus a tragic ending “the lovers survive and flourish”(371). By changing the ending Briony tries to extinguish her grief that she affected Robbie’s and Cecilia’s life and torn apart the Tallis family. Briony is learning how to survive without her innocence.