In Mackinlay Kantor's A Man Who Had No Eyes

When emotion overwhelms you, you have two choices; let it eat away at you slowly, each and every day, or attempt to purge it from your memory. Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer’s way of preventing himself from going insane and parting with his overwhelming emotions. Although I have not first-handedly experienced traumatizing events in the same way Krakauer has, I relate to the want, or need, to dispose of extreme thoughts through art. Contrastingly, I often part with my emotions through vague paintings only I can accurately decipher, while Krakauer parts with his emotions through a twenty one chapter novel in which he gives the readers nearly excessive details about not only his emotions, but also the emotions and hardships of others. While reading

In Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” Dave finds himself throughout the course of the story. Throughout the story, Dave is constantly seeking the pleasure of obtaining and then eventually shooting a gun in order to be a man and find himself. However, Dave does not expect the consequences that are to follow the pursuit of pleasure. The moral of the story pertains to the role pleasure and its consequences have in development and finding oneself. The story narrates a common, but little talked about problem, that runs rampant in today’s society. In the story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” Richard Wright illustrates Dave’s development, or lack thereof, through the symbols of the gun, the train, and the mule.

The Psychological lens further examines the behavior and mindset of a character within a stories text, in order to unveil the deeper meaning. In the story, “The Things They Carry” the protagonist of the story, “Tim O’brien” gives the audience an insight upon his traumatic experience in Vietnam, as well as the memories he recalls before being drafted into the military. Focusing more specifically on the fourth chapter, It’s clear that he suffers from either his confusion, guilt, anxiety, as well as his shame for attempting to flee from his very own responsibilities. When relating to the Psychological Lens, what state of mind was the author in while the text was written? Focusing our prior knowledge about the main character of the story, we

By looking at the novel Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden one can see the struggles that comes with someone trying to live a live unburdened after succumbing to external sources. Furthermore, Joseph Boyden develops on this idea of how hard it is to repair themselves and becoming human once more.

The other section where symbolism is evident is “Small Porch in the Woods.” It is divided into several poems. In the first one, there is the mention of “unshifting star” which represents a change that is undisturbed. It is the turning point of the society. Despite the challenges communities face in their life, their ambition leads them towards achieving their objectives in life. The second poem under this section is about a heavy rain that fell in the month of April. Heavy rain is the representation of unhappy moments. The description presented by the narrator shows that it is a sad moment where everything is carried away. Throughout the poem, the rain is seen, as a lesson

“Duality” portrays the insanity individuals can feel when trapped inside the confines and horrors of their own minds. When I get stuck inside my own mind for too long, I conjure up scenarios that eat away at me, yet aren’t even close to the reality of the situation. Duality hits the individuals who know that their own mind can be an imposing tormenter if left to run in the wrong direction. I push my fingers into my eyes It's the only thing that slowly stops the ache

The Fourth State of Matter by Beard shows the emotional and mental state of people when they lose control of their lives. The coming together of three stories into one is remarkable and continues to support the view of confusion in life since no one can fully control it. The best thing to do most of the time is accept change and try as much as possible to enjoy life. Beard’s life seems to be going out of control, but through time and effort she realizes that she can take control of her emotional and mental state.

Starting out as a single-minded twit, with the “blind” man by his side, the narrator was shown who the real blind character is being him. The lost was led by the misjudged, allowing the narrator to “see” how he was confused due to his own disregard. The nonexistent number of friendships the narrator had proved the valid statement of Robert who had great warmth for mankind even with physical disadvantages. However, the narrator couldn’t get a clue of what his philosophy hindered him from who had the advantage of vision. The narrator felt a sense of some sort of hierarchy towards Robert who had a useful stance with it. Ironically, the narrator who was blind and had a lot of disgust towards Robert ended up being the narrator’s teacher in the sketch of the “Cathedral”. The use of irony was more evident at the end of the narrative as the narrator didn’t open his eyes when he had the option. He put trust in the blind man as he opened his intellect that before wasn’t exhibited. “But I don’t feel like I was inside anything, it’s really something (pg.42) the narrator mentioned. Awareness and the opportunity of a tolerant attitude started to blossom as a new beginning of processing new ways of

Wright helps the reader feel the severity of the problems he faces from inhaling the smoke and nearly dying through his effective use of personification and metaphors through a first-person view: “Smoke was choking me and the fire was licking at my face, making me gasp”(5). This is used to convey that his mistake is coming to get him in both a literal and figurative sense. Violence and fear are also prevalent, as seen within Wright’s description of his mother’s desperate calls for her son; “The distress I sensed in her voice was as sharp and painful as the lash of a whip on my flesh” (6). This use of language not only emphasizes on the emotion within the scene, but also distinctly foreshadows the violent punishment Richard faces following the incident; Wright’s utilization of diction as he repeats the use of variations of the word “beat” throughout the passage manages to further said foreshadowing. Richard’s emotions and view of his own family is prevalent as he resists the orders of his parents, “I hugged the edge of the brick chimney with all my strength” (6); Richard demonstrates his perseverance and determination for survival at just four years of age as he embraces a burning building rather than grasp his own father’s hand as the fear of fire was more bearable than the fear of a

Oliver Sacks in “The Mind’s Eye” and Azar Nafisi “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran.” both touch upon how people do not choose the life they live; therefore one’s life is shaped using their own experiences and imagination. The mind plays a major role in how individuals create their own identity. As people grow both physically and mentally, their experiences and imaginations also expand into letting them picture the world in their own perspective. From the blind to those who are controlled by the Iranian government, personal characteristics are the attributes in which we can personalize ourselves. The ever-changing world may create multiple challenges for those trying to shape their identity, but all must remember that we are in control of what our minds take in and let

We see how a pair of characters meddle with their own definition of themselves and the eventual ramifications of the changes made. Interestingly, although the results are very different, the two pairs follow the same rules when it comes to the definition of self: the truth will always show itself, no matter how hard one tries to suppress it. In

The metaphor ‘a heap of verminous rags and matted hair’ is used to establish an image of a ‘thing’ rather than a human as ‘verminous’ is often associated with flies and ‘matted hair’, creating images of filth, dust and neglect of physical hygiene. This is then juxtaposed to the next metaphor ‘he watches with cunning eyes’ as it challenges the readers pre-existing perceptions of the persona and instead conjures up images of reptile like creature watching for pray in the readers mind. The pronoun ‘he’ and description ‘smallpoxed face’ are used to remind the reader that this is a person and their negative perception of the beggar are further explored. The reader upholds a relationship of disgust with the beggar, as they are unable to comprehend how a human can be in such a state. The sudden change of tone in the third stanza of ‘African Beggar’ enables the reader to re-establish the perception and relationship that they had previously created with the beggar. ‘lost in the trackless jungle of his pain’ is an example of symbolism used to demonstrate the extent of pain that the beggar feels throughout his body as its endless pain. The reader visualizes someone struggling to live their life, creating a sympathetic feeling towards

In his new life, he experiences minor signal lags and alcohol has lost its intoxicating effects, but apart from that there’s not much difference in experience. Though, once he settles in, a major epistemological question dawns on him: “Where is he?” To answer this, he considers 3 different views of the relationship between the mind and body.

In life, we are faced with adversity and hardships that have the tendency to haunt our minds. The mind is like bag that is filled with those things that we deem necessary to respond to stimuli in our environment. It is essential that we keep our bags (mind) filled with tools that will help us move forward and not backwards. We must also throw away worn out tools and continue to create room for new tools.

Negative capability is, as defined by the British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, the ability to tolerate the pain and confusion of not knowing, rather than imposing ready-made certainties upon an ambiguous situation or emotional challenge. Negative capability can be a coping mechanism, and in many cases, can be a tool to maintain one’s dignity. Not everyone possesses the same amount of negative capability, thus making it difficult to use the same amount as others. In three specific pieces of literature, different amounts of negative capability allow central characters going through emotional struggles to maintain their dignity. James Hughe’s “An Open House” is a short story about a young guitarist named Fig who loses the tip of his middle