Loss In Gwilan's Harp And The Last Leaf

The deceased are often remembered in either the best of themselves or the worst. Family and friends usually look back and reminisce on the most striking qualities held by their lost loved ones. Death is a shocking and confusing period for those affected by it and the whirlwind of emotions, such as the various stages of grief, catch many by surprise. Born in 1908, Theodore Roethke was an American poet who was deemed one of the most proficient and leading poets of his generation. In his poem, “Elegy for Jane”, Roethke uses a variety of poetic devices to express the different themes of love, happiness, and grief. His use of imagery, symbolism, persona, tone and word choice, contribute to the deeper meaning of the poem, assisting in the expression of the speaker’s feelings for Jane and of how, Jane, herself felt.

What is lost is not always easy to replace, and losses suffered are not always easy to overcome. Grief hangs heavily and normal life suddenly becomes hard to go through with the impact of recent events. Rick Reilly addresses this in his essay The Real New York Giants. His nostalgic and somber tone reflect the gravity of the situation, remembering his dear friends who were lost in the tragic event. In his essay The Real New York Giants, Rick Reilly uses imagery, rhetorical questions, and diction to convey the impact of loss on people and how they recover and return to their daily lives without the familiar presence of people they lost.

It talks about dealing with loss. People deal with loss in many different ways and feel many different things. This poem allows readers to feel the grievance through his words. Once a reader begins to read the poem immediately they will feel like continuing to read. People who have dealt with loss can relate to this poem.

Marisa Silver’s collection, Babe in Paradise, is a theme of loss located in Los Angeles. In the collection, every character copes with loss in various scenarios. What defines the term loss in Silver’s work? A central theme in Babe in Paradise, involves losing a family member. However, many characters deal with loss in their version, which comprises of hope, pride, mental state, and reality. After loss, an individual’s personality can change either in a positive or negative forefront, this is shown heavily in Babe in Paradise. Silver’s collection demonstrates how severely a tragedy affects the character, not as an individual, but how their loss affects the people around them.

Grief is defined as keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss, and through the various ways both these characters coped with grief, each character’s thoughts and actions reveal aspects of his personality. In life “Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom”

Whether it is over the death of a loved one or a very emotional situation, grief is inevitable. Most individuals experience a form of grief at some point in their lifetime. Coping with a distressing situation can be a very difficult task and there are many arguments as to whether there is a set and correct method on how to deal with grief or not. Many people have created a grieving process that includes going through certain stages in order. However, this proposed grieving method is no more than a false theory. Due to the fact that every single person grieves differently, there is no way to possibly set a specific way to grieve. “A Raisin in The Sun,” by Lorraine Hansberry and “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” by William Shakespeare both

The short stories “Gwilan’s Harp” written by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry all show the loss of something valuable, as a theme. Each of the characters in the stories experience loss of something special to them, such as, the loss of an harp, the loss of a caring son, and the unforeseen loss of a friend. In “Gwilan’s Harp” a young harpist named Gwilan has an irreplaceable flawless harp. Unfortunately the harp gets crushed, and Gwilan’s struggles with the loss of her most prized possession. In Isaac Singer’s “The Washwoman” the elderly washwoman tells the Jewish family which employed her, about the loss of her adult son, not by death, but by embarrassment of her profession. Lastly, in “The

The mood of the story is bitter and the tone is calm. The author specially emphasizes the mood at the end of the story by describing his father’s death. His father died in the sea, and “the white-green stubble” (MacLeod, 12) of his father’s whiskers “had continue to grow in death, like the grass on graves” (Macleod, 12). The use of simile helps the author to create a bitter and sad mood that his father died miserably. And the narrator’s mother “lives alone” (MacLeod, 12) which is also sad. However, the narrator tells the story in a peaceful tone because he accepts the fact, his father’s death and starts a new life to become a teacher at a Midwestern university.

In “Once Art by Elizabeth Bishop the speaker's attitude towards loss in lines 1-15 is unaffectionate while her attitude towards loss in lines 16-19 are more caring. She uses personification and symbolism to show how emotional it is to loose someone you love because people take their loved ones for granted. In lines 1-15 it can be seen that the speaker thinks that losing things isn’t a big deal from the first line, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” (Bishop 1). She’s saying that it’s easy to lose things, so it should be the norm.

Everyone suffers loss at some point in their lives but, it affects people differently. Some are more vocal about their feelings than others. Nevertheless, the pain of loss can push growth and maturity in everyone. The harsh sting of loss however will never be as strong as the love from friends and family. In Ray Bradbury’s novel Dandelion Wine, the citizens of Green Town, Illinois endure loss in its many forms. There is the death of a loved one, extraction of an object no matter how insignificant, and the end of youth. These are portrayed during the events of the book as they happen to twelve-year-old Douglas (Doug) Spaulding.

The stories “Gwilan’s Harp”, “The Washwoman”, and “The Last Leaf” are all very different but maybe a bit less different than people think. In the story “Gwilan’s Harp,” written by Ursula K. LeGuin, the character Gwilan comes across great loss first in her harp, and next she loses Torm her husband. In the story “The Washwoman,” written by Isaac Singer, a Jewish family has a family relationship with their washwoman. She was their best washwoman. Although the washwoman came across many troubles in her life one with her son who completely shunned her and another with an illness that killed her. In the story “The Last Leaf,” written be O. Henry, a girl named Johnsie gets a disease called pneumonia which causes Johnsie to lose hope in life. She then

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 poems you have studied a recurring theme is that of ‘loss’. This can take many forms: death; identity; hope or loss of innocence

The main characters, in “The Last Leaf” by O’Henry, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, all find that it is possible to keep on living, despite their losses. Johnsy finds the will to live despite the loss of her friend, Mr. Behrman, in “The Last Leaf.” The washwoman keeps on living and working, despite the loss of her son’s loyalty and her health, as seen in “The Washwoman.” In “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan learns how to live despite her losses of loved ones and her ability to play. Johnsy, the washwoman, and Gwilan all live and learn to live despite their various losses.