Living Despite Loss In 'The Last Leaf And Gwilan's Harp'

The book Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry is about girl named Kira, her mom dies leaving her to fend for herself with her twisted leg. The two big themes in the book are Don't give up because of her having no parents at the beginning of the book. The other theme is be proud of your pain. Her mom told her this because she said that kira is stronger than people without pain.

In ‘I kneel to pick frail melancholy flowers among ashes and loam’ a tone of loneliness and sadness is established as the persona enters. Harwood describes the violets as ‘frail’ and ‘melancholy’, terms that arn’t usually associated with flowers. This is also explored in the juxtaposition of ‘ashes’ and ‘loam’. Ash is symbolic of death and decay which contradicts the ‘loam’, symbolic of life and birth. The persona’s dark and unpleasant perceptions reveal their uncertainty and state of mind. The present tense indicates the persona’s adulthood and their sense of longing and unsatisfaction conveyed through the nostalgic delivery of

The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with

Gail Cadwell once said “I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures” In Richard Wagamese’s novel, Ragged Company, the theme of loss is developed through the main characters’ physical strength to face the challenges of life with without a sense of fear regardless of the risk of disappointment, their emotional willpower to overcome adversity and their influential beliefs that allow them to endure hardships. The physical death of loved ones affect the five best friends’ ability to comprehend their losses. The emotional tragedies that each character develops have an expressive impact these characters’ perception of the world around them. The loss of spiritually influences how each individual deals with their own hardships and struggles. As a direct result of loss, the five main characters are forced to cope with their misfortunes and survive in modern day society.

During a person's lifetime, he or she will have to suffer from loss. Loss is seen through The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Queen of Versailles by Lauren Greenfield. Throughout these two texts, loss severely impacts the view of the story. In both The Grapes of Wrath and The Queen of Versailles, loss brings nothing but stress and sadness. The authors of these two texts clearly makes an effort to portray that there is no possible way to avoid this burden.

The weeds that grow from the grave are visible signs of someones sin. For Dimmesdale, who notices these weeds, they represent his worst fear and, strangely, his greatest longing – exposure. He comes to believe that his sin will also sprout from his heart somehow, that his sin will reveal itself to the town without his knowledge, as the weeds grow from the sinner’s grave without his permission. He makes his fears manifest when he carves the A upon his own breast, and flagellates himself in the night, marking his body with the evidence of his sin. Likewise, the poisonous plants that grow uncultivated in the wilderness can be viewed as the product of sin, which will gradually poison the sinner and even cause his death if it is not rooted out.

When I first picked this book up, it was at a used book sale in a warehouse. It sold for fifty cents. Never would I have thought that a book selling for a half-dollar would stick with me my entire life. Never would I imagine coming back to this story, and reliving the feelings of Will in times where my life became stressful or consumed by grief. Janet Lee Carey has such an amazing way of telling the story of a near-death experience and helping Will’s feelings reach the reader in a personal manner, almost as if the book is speaking to the individual.

How does one draw strength from loss? Everyone suffers; everyone goes through difficulties; everyone experiences pain. Far too many people only look at the negative aspects of loss without realizing how it can be a source of strength. Like the way one builds muscle tissue, by relentlessly pushing through the pain of exercise, true strength can only be built when one feels weak. In "Gwilan's Harp" by Urusla K. LeGuin, "The Washwoman" by Isaac Singer, and "The Last Leaf" by O. Henry, a character experiences a sudden and personal loss.

Everyone faced with lots of different challenges such as divorce, death, and financial issues in their lives and stories are a way of coping with certain issues. Scott Russell Sanders’ tackled this issue in this essay “The Most Human Art”, and in Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the characters prove how this theory is inflicted in day to day life. In Scott Russell Sanders’ essay, he proves that the grieving can find safety and support through reading stories. He says that in most stories, there's a happy ending, like in the fairy tale formula which is “Once upon a time”, and “Happily ever after”.

The Choice after Loss “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.” -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, American psychologist. When loss hits, people have a choice: to serve others in spite of their misfortune or to focus on themselves and their sadness. Gwilan in, “Gwilan’s Harp” and the washwoman in, “The Washwoman”, consistently decide to persevere and help others even in difficult circumstances. However, Mr. Behrman in “The Last Leaf” selfishly wallows in his loss and only at the end decides to assist others.

In Gwilan’s Harp, by Ursula K. LeGuin, the novelist demonstrates the idea of loss throughout the storyline. LeGuin illustrates a young woman, Gwilan, who suffered a tragic life. It seems as if the one good happening that occurred in her lifespan was the harp that she received from her mother. However, she

In the event of a loved one's death, the emotion of grief follows suit. Grief is a complicated emotion that is dealt with in various ways. In Henry Longfellow's The Cross of Snow, Walt Whitman's Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, and Emily Dickenson's A Great Pain a Formal Feeling Comes, the discussion of coping with a loved one's death and the process of grief is discussed in poetic form. By utilizing their writing, these poets depict death and grief in its most romantic and realistic form. In Longfellow's The Cross of Snow, he copes with the tragic death of his wife, who died from burns after her dress caught on fire in their home.

Grief and pain has always been a part of our life. These feelings are everywhere and every single one of us experience them. Even though human suffering seems to be completely negative, I believe that it is a burden, a curse, but a bliss at the same time. It strikes us down, but it gives us the power to stand up for ourselves, to react. There are no pieces of literature that best describe the misery and torment a human being can go through other than the famous Greek tragedies. The way Queen Hecuba deals with her pain and suffering in Euripides’ play is through reacting and making justice for herself.

Don’t let the title “Washing-Day” fool you into believing that a 1797 poem by Barbauld is playfully poking fun at the mundane chore of washing linens. Admittedly, falling into this trap is a snap when the speaker talks about a day of hovering bubbles, forbidden butter and desire feeding pudding. Nonetheless, the poems sense of satire cannot overshadow the speaker’s testimony about the hopeless dynamics of the world she lives in: “Come, Muse; and sing the dreaded Washing-Day” (Line 8).

My connections examined the different ways people choose to deal with the feeling of pain and loss. My four texts are Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, Imaginary Heroes directed by Dan Harris, How We Survive written by Mark Rickerby, and Still I Rise written by Maya Angelou. Tears in Heaven and Imaginary Heroes are similar to each other because they both explain how certain people dealt with pain and the loss of a loved one. I noticed that Tears in Heaven showed that one can accept the loss, whereas in Imaginary Heroes we see the negative effects of not being able to deal with grief. How We Survive and Still I Rise can be connected through the idea that human life is precious, that we should savour life while it lasts. If we do not remain positive