The Unknown History
The genre of historical fiction is loved by many authors as it allows them to use the past as an inspiration while writing a fictional story that will captivate the readers. In the novel In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje, the rich history is explored throughout the novel with the theme of the unfair treatment of immigrants, the construction of both the Bloor Street Viaduct and the Queen Street Waterworks and the character of Rowland Harris. By looking at the historical facts in the novel, we can see why it’s considered a historical fiction novel, which most readers fail to recognize; this is important because Ondaatje chooses this writing style so that the readers can learn about the rich history of Toronto through
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In the novel, Ondaatje names him Rowland Harris and he’s a secondary character in the story. However, that being said, Rowland Harris is portrayed as a visionary, a dreamer and an achiever. The author does a great job of bringing this character in the story all while maintaining some great accomplishments in his life. Roland Harris envisioned a lot of aspects that Toronto now has. During Harris and Patrick’s conversation at The Queen Street Waterworks, Harris says “It turned out I was dreaming about projects for the city that had been rejected over the years. Wonderful things that were said to be too vulgar or expensive, too this too that.” (Ondaatje 237) Roland Harris was a great architect for the city of Toronto, he was a visionary and wanted to make the city of Toronto grow. This is directly linked to Toronto’s history and Ondaatje uses that secondary character who the readers don’t see a lot throughout the book to talk about someone who dreamed big for Toronto. Harris even says to Patrick “I mean the Bloor Street Viaduct and this building here are just a hint of what could have been done here.” (Ondaatje 237) For someone who was a visionary for Toronto, the sky would have been the limit if he had the money and the right to keep making the city grow. The Character of Harris has played a valuable part in the way Toronto is shaped today and Ondaatje knew
The author, Logan Feys in his article, ¨The Sociology of Leopard Man¨, discusses the topic of society and being a nonconformist. He claims that people should be psychologically free and strong enough to live independently, leaving society and entering society on their own terms. He supports his claim by first comparing abnormal people and ¨normal¨ people. For example, in the article he states, “Plenty of weird people do have serious mental problems. But so do plenty of ¨normal¨ people.¨ (Feys 1). He then goes on to explain the dangers of conforming to society. ¨Conformity can be seen as the world's most common but dangerous psychological disorder. Living in society, we are under constant pressure to surrender our individuality to the will of
In the essay, “Sociology of Leopard Man”, Logan Feys talks about conformation and how people are being affected by it. The author introduces the idea of changing your feelings, looks, beliefs, or actions in order to fit in with a group. My opinion is that it is not a good idea. I believe that changing your personality is fine if you are doing it because you want to do it. If you are changing because other people in society are doing it, then I would say that it is wrong. They may be wanting to change because they want to be viewed by society as normal. Society forces individual people to conform to their beliefs. This is affecting people’s lives as it gives them more to think about when they are in public as they are worrying about what others think.
In the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair; this was first published by Fine Creative Media Inc. in 1906 (edition I read was published in 2003) it discuses life as an immigrant and how immigrants foresaw the American dream and how they tired to achieve it. There where many themes for the book. The theme that I took was most important was that life on the other side is not always better then what one has. This theme can be shown many different ways throughout the book. It is shown through the plot and through many examples of event that occurred though the book.
In this novel, Larson helps readers make sense of what was new about big cities at the end of the nineteenth century—transportation, communication, electricity, anonymity—by showing how these aspects of
“The Lady, or The Tiger” by Mr. Frank R. Stockton has compelled readers for as long as time. This story ends with all wondering, so which is it, the delicate and fair young lady or the savage, fierce, wild-eyed tiger standing behind the door. This makes us ponder whether human heart chooses love or jealously. Within this essay, there will be proof that it is the stunning young woman behind the door. Although there is evidence proving that it is the tiger, in a sense there is more evidence stating that the elegant and barbaric princess allowed her real lover to continue living. To begin let us start with the small dwindling points that the tiger, lye behind the door.
In the novel, “In the Skin of a Lion,” by Michael Ondaatje, the main character, Patrick Lewis, searches for identity and light. Without these elements, he lacks love and cannot survive the world. A passage in chapter three describes him as a lonely man that is isolated from the world around him. “Clara and Ambrose and Alice and Temelcoff and Cato- this cluster made up a drama without him. And he himself was noting but a prism that refracted their lives. He searched out things, he collected things. He was an abashed man, an inheritance from his father. Born in Abashed, Ontario. What did the word mean? Something that suggested there was a terrible horizon in him beyond which he couldn’t leap.
The nonfiction novel “"Lion"” by Saroo Brierley explores different attributes that a person must possess in order to survive. This novel ,”"Lion"” is based on a true story about a 5 year old indian boy who by chance leaves his poverty stricken home and ends up in the city of Kolkata. After 25 years of separation from his family he finds his way home. “"Lion"” showcases many idea’s about survival, some of these being thinking instinctively, knowing how to source basic needs and knowing when to trust others.
In Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson utilizes the idea of a “devil” during a time of when Chicago was prospering to showcase the evil lurking behind the mirage of wealth and beauty. The speaker is a third person omniscient narrator who has known about Burnham and Holmes life Chicago in the late-nineteenth century. The audience is intended for readers who enjoy non-fiction thriller novels or wants to know about the historical event from different viewpoints. The purpose is to entertain the audience but also teach them about the coexistence and balance of “good” and “evil” in one city. The subject is about Chicago during the Columbian Exposition, focusing on the juxtaposition of the lives of Burnham and Holmes. The tone shifts throughout the novel between every other chapter when there is a change in character since they have different thoughts and settings. Larson uses this to emphasize the universal themes of harmonization of polar opposites. He contrasts the two demeanors of Chicago, the white city was Burnham’s fair, also known a dream land. On the other hand, the black city is Holmes’ house of terror.
In the novel The Devil in the White City, Author Erik Larson uses imagery, irony, and juxtaposition to parallel the good and evil sides of the city of Chicago during the 1893 World’s Fair. Larson takes a more upbeat, joyous tone while following the story of Burnham and the architects designing the World Fair, but the tone turns much darker when perspectives change and we follow the plot of H.H. Holmes, America’s first known serial killer. Using rhetorical devices like imagery, diction, and syntax, Larson is able to paint a picture of Chicago from both the good and evil side, setting a more serious and ominous tone for the novel.
In “it was a blighted, hellish place full of noise and dust and smoke and inhuman towers that blocked the sun and she hated it—hated especially this gloomy building and the ceaseless clamor of construction” (Larson 123), the black city is described through selective connotation and word choice. Larson creating an unpleasant mood by using such negative and degrading words such as “blighted,” “hellish,” and “inhuman” to describe Chicago, readers can envision a hateful and dull place. By placing “and” in front of the negative words: blighted, hellish, and inhuman and repeating “and” multiple times, the list of unappealing attributes of the city is elongated. Essentially, Chicago is envisioned in a worse way than if the negative adjectives were just listed one after another without the effect that “and” carries, emphasizing the hatred the character held towards
The irony of such circumstance is that the migrants are there because they were trying to escape from the turmoil of their previous homes. They came for a new start, but found themselves only to be trapped again in a political game of social divisions. The man committed the illegal act for a moment of victory and freedom. An act of resistance is a moment of freedom.
Lion in Winter is the chess game as portrayed in Becket. There are kings and queens, but the most important ones are the pawns. The pawns are what makes this story grow. Everyone in this story is playing their own chess game for their own reasons. The most dangerous ones are the one that have nothing to lose.
Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion narrates the forgotten stories of those who contributed to the building of the city Toronto, particularly immigrants and marginal individuals. In the very first page of the novel, Ondaatje stresses the concern with personal narratives and the act of storytelling: "This is the story a young girl gathers in a car during the early hours of the morning [...] She listens to the man as he picks up and brings together various corners of the story..." (4). Similar to Crossing the River, there is a framework story, that of a man telling a story to a girl, that opens and ends the novel and gives coherence to
Summary of The Lion King: In the Disney animation loved by families everywhere, The Lion King, Simba, the young lion born into royalty. His parents have high expectation and have strict boundaries. The Lion King follows Simba as he explores the plains of Africa and stirs up trouble with his uncle, Scar.
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is one of Poe’s greatest literary works that embodies his signature themes of death, violence, and darkness. Poe’s main character begins his narration of his horrible wrongdoings regarding them as a “series of mere household events” (Poe 705). However, this is where Poe’s satire and irony begins and the story progresses to show the deranged mindset of this character as he tries to justify his actions. As the main character proceeds to rationalize his crime, Poe is able to convey a sense of irony through his use of foreshadowing, metaphors and symbolism.