Regeneration

and his comrades cannot. He says to Graves as he is seeing him off at

In the short allegory “The Birthmark”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a newly-wed couple becomes consumed by the existence of a small birthmark on the wife’s face. When the wife, Georgiana, allows her husband Aylmer, a scientist, to remove the birthmark, both realize that Georgiana will inevitably sacrifice her life for the sake of its removal. As the story progresses, so does the confliction of the newlyweds as they realize exactly what the birthmark symbolized to and for each other. Hawthorne’s hallmark use of symbolism also provides a ‘perfect’ glimpse into the mindset of two themes of psychological conflictions: perfectionism and codependency. Hawthorne seems to share this story as a possible moral of the hidden pathos we place upon the ones we love, and the invisible marks or standards we place upon ourselves for the ones we love.

Regeneration by Pat Barker The war in 'Regeneration' is explored 'back home'. Rather than portraying the war in terms of fighting on the frontline in the battlefields of France, Barker demonstrates the effects on the soldiers 'back home', both physically and mentally. The soldiers are those who have been injured, shell-shocked, or had a breakdown and are being treated with the intention of sending those who are able, back to France or at least resuming some kind of war duties. The war is explored, essentially in terms of the psychological effects of those who fought it.

Next, Butler moves on to portray a close-up view of Dana’s laceration, “My blouse was stuck to my back. It was cut to pieces, really, but the pieces were stuck to me … The skin of my back stretched agonizingly, and the water got pinker” (Butler 113). The vivid visual of Dana’s injury and the unbelievable harm of the whips are so realistic to readers with the use of connotative diction such as “pieces,” “agonizingly,” and “blood.” The readers’ sympathy towards Dana and the slaves intensifies as the magnitude of pain and the disturbing level of the cut elevate.

In one scene of the memoir, Allison describes her uncles and their need to be depicted as masculine and to act “hard” to the world around them. She also remembers her cousins as young boys and how quickly they seemed to turn into men. The time came for them to act as the world expected them to. This action shows how gender may oppress some males when they feel the pressures of the world to act a certain way. Otherwise, they are at risk for being seen as different and abnormal. Men who do not portray masculinity well are often seen as feminine and weak. When Allison describes her uncles she states, “If you didn’t look close, you might miss the sharp glint of pain in their eyes, the restless angry way they gave themselves up to fate,” (Allison, 28). These men already had their futures planned for them though the society and gender norms. Acting against these norms was seen as unusual, radical, and

A major result of the abuse reveals itself through Bone’s confusion of the true meaning of love. Her mother and the rest of the Boatwright’s show Bone a much different facet of love compared to Daddy Glen’s ideas. Daddy Glen constantly reminds Bone of how much he loves them all; however, she can’t understand why his love is manifested so strangely. She longs for the love of this “father figure”. Although, even his methods of abuse cloud her thinking, leaving her incapable of deciphering between pleasure and pain, especially shown in her masturbation.

Following his rape, he starts to do what he feels is right, and in one case, goes directly against direct orders to stand for what he believes in, as well as to reconcile everything he’s been through as a soldier; the violence, the pain, and everything that has emotionally and physically scarred him.

In chapter two, the narrator is attending a support group called Remaining Men Together. This support group is the only thing that provides comfort for the narrator as he suffers from insomnia. Remaining Men Together is a support group for men with testicular cancer. At the beginning of this chapter, his actions are almost anti-masculine as he interacts with his fellow members. He is literally pretending to have no balls, which are usually used as a man’s most prominent display of masculinity (Boon, and Alexander). He also shows deep emotion by crying into the breasts of his fellow male member, Bob.

George Sherston, the main character of Sherston’s Progress, is a curious mentality for the reader to decipher. As a victim of Shell Shock, (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) he is persistently grappling with understanding his own mind and this becomes the task of the reader as well. Due to this omnipresent task, one becomes a psychoanalyst of George. The only difference between Rivers and the reader is that Rivers actually interacts with George while the reader can only sit back and watch. I will be investigating the first section of the book to better understand the character Rivers.

In Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, the theme of transformation appears throughout the short story cycle. The hero/heroine’s virginity acts as a source of strength that protects them from harm. Their lack of fear also saves them from death. Virginity acts as power of potentia, either literally or symbolically and results in a release of an observed transformative power. The bloody chamber serves a different symbolic purpose of transformation for Beauty in “The Courtship of Mr Lyon”, the heroine in “The Tiger’s Bride” and the Countess in “The Lady of the House of Love”. Each of these characters will embark on a journey that questions their selfhood in circumstances that are presented to them and ultimately each will go through a

The struggle of Ennis with Jack and his conventional masculinity is what drives the story in the film. The irregularity of how he handles his relationship with Jacks provides a visualization of his inner struggles which lends to his need to prove his masculinity. The film equates Ennis’ homosexual experiences with aggression which makes Ennis aware of his masculinity. Ennis’ struggle is ingrained in the conventional masculinity of the Western. Strength, aggression, and pride, often being the traits of masculinity reject conventional feminine characteristics such as nurturing, compassion and gentleness.

The theme emasculation appears several times throughout the novel Regeneration in variety of forms. Barker’s exploration of emasculation in the novel challenges traditional notions of manliness, showing war as a possible “feminine” experience. Pat Barker is bringing to attention that the atrocities suffered at war are making the soldiers unmanly as they’re facing shell shock and trauma. There are many situations in the novel where emasculation is expressed, where there is loss of power, masculinity, deprive of the male role and identity has taken place.

While it would be very easy to focus on the constant assault of the sexuality of both the men and women that are represented in this story, I feel that sexuality is only a minor theme. The provocativeness that the story contains is used more to draw people to either listen or view the story itself than present a major theme in sexuality. The major issue that he is trying to bring forward is that of conflict and how it occurs in more than just war. Let's look at the three major conflicts within this story.

It can be argued that the narrator is not accepted as a woman by the marquis in a virginal or non-virginal state and therefore is in a liminal state because he treats her as a child both before and after the consummation of their marriage.

“Big Two Hearted River”, a semi-autobiographical short story by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about the main character, Nick, returning to Big Two Hearted River in order to recover from his inner wounds. Nick Adams goes on a journey alone in nature for a therapeutic purpose as he suffers from PTSD. However, Hemingway purposely avoided any direct discussion regarding to Nick’s mental wounds. The absence of the discussion is contributed by Hemingway’s writing style, the Iceberg principle. Hemingway focuses explicitly on what occurs on the surface without mentioning actual theme. This indicates that the theme of self-healing cannot be uncovered by simply looking at the text itself. In order to comprehend the actual theme of the story, the character development of Nick must be examined. This is possible since Nick Adams is a recurring character of Hemingway’s stories. The two preceding stories of “Big Two Hearted River”, “Now I lay me” and “A Way you’ll Never Be”, directly discusses Nick’s suffering from shell-shock and how he comforts himself by returning to Big Two Hearted river in his mind. The two short stories will be analyzed and connected to “Big Two Hearted River” in the essay first. This will provide a strong understanding of Nick’s psyche and the reason behind his return to nature. Then, “Big Two Hearted River” the short story itself will be carefully analyzed.