Townsend and Pollock surround their work with life altering decisions made by their characters resulting in either the success or failure of their own development or those around them. “Behavior-outcome relations (contingency rules) represent the individual’s assessment of the likelihood that a particular behavior will be followed by a particular outcome (Knowles, McLean 154). Throughout Saint Monkey and “Real Life,” character interactions are vital in shaping their further development as the stories progress. Audrey, Caroline, and Bobby are constantly affected by their loved ones and in some cases themselves. Saint Monkey is told from the perspective of two best friends, Audrey Martin and Caroline Wallace. Audrey and Caroline struggle …show more content…
Knowles, a psychology professor, and George F. McLean, a philosophy professor, study that: “…young children may use the actions of others to determine what standards should be expected of their behavior…once adopted children will strive to achieve certain goals…” (Knowles, McLean 155). Bobby discovers more about his character after his fight: “Even after I’d swallowed all the blood, I kept licking my hands. I tore at the skin with my teeth. I wanted more. I always wanted more” (Pollock 97). Pollock exposes Bobby’s character to be in likeness with his father, inherited from his social learning, being the supposed example for him to learn by. Townsend explores the same issue with Audrey and Caroline, also affected by their fathers. Audrey and Caroline’s friendship plummets after the death of Caroline’s mother. Audrey expresses her distress over Caroline’s withdraw: “But I can no longer see my own plainness reflected in hers, and I begin to dread that it might actually be true, that Caroline’s leaving me behind” (Townsend 35). Caroline’s withdraw from her relationship happens when Caroline says, “And my name ain’t Pookie. My mama named me Caroline.” (Townsend 33). The aftereffect of this withdraw from Audrey creates a hostility between the two that has always been existent, but never verbalized because of their profound friendship. Caroline’s hostility continues with her jealousy of Audrey, in church …show more content…
However, Townsend rotates their two personas, later in the story, where Audrey becomes more like Caroline and vice versa. Mathis also writes, “In Townsend’s hands, virtue and innocence were only a veil that needed to fall away so the girls might see themselves, and their chosen course, more clearly (Mathis NYTimes.com). Caroline’s first step into a mature-like Audrey character is stepping into the cosmetic business and forgoing her frivolous self in order to make money, “According to a manual, a lady salesperson cannot afford to be petty. She must put aside her differences for the sake of enterprise” (Townsend 199). Caroline’s established character always says what she thinks never mind the consequences, but transitioning character desires to be successful and is willing to bite her tongue in order to provide for herself and live out her dream. Audrey, on the other hand, digresses her character development. At first she wants to find love even if she is not in love, “August’s orange is my orange and his green is my green, I wrote her, and almost convinced myself that it isn’t a lie” (Townsend 248). Audrey is very adamant in her search for him that she is willing to sacrifice actually being in love in exchange for the thought of love. However, after her split from August, Audrey fell away from her ideal of love and became
When people first start reading a book there is one burning question: "What is this story about?" It’s a heavy question, especially for a fiction novel with so many fabricated details. You can fix this by saying a story is all about decisions. Of course, there are other themes, but the entire story is connected by the questions characters ask themselves and the outcome of their own answers. We can think about how this mimics real life. How every day we are forced to consider life's chance situations; some casual, some pressing, but all of them impacting our final growth as people and those around us to some degree. A good example of this is when in the book "The Outsiders", our protagonist Jonny decided to kill Bob in self-defense, this resulted in Jonny and Ponyboy going on the run. The decisions, the choices, that were made by Jonny change the course of his and his cohort's entire lives in an instant--directing the whole final tale and story outcome.
Barb blames Janice for Anne's death to hurt her and make her feel guilty, not knowing that Janice already feels guilty but does not express it. However, Barb does not think about the challenges Janice might have endured but is angry because she is not the ‘ideal Janice’ that she had been expecting. Barb is too busy and eager wanting to express her anger towards Janice that she cannot relate to Janice’s problems and the struggles that she goes through. Barb’s lack of sympathy towards the unexpected changes in Janice’s life only results in a bigger gap in their relationship. Once Barb and Janice start talking, Barb is again angered by Janice’s quietness and her unwillingness to strengthen their relationship. However, she does not make an effort herself to understand why. Barb says to Janice: “You told us the facts. I don’t know one damn thing about you, the person” (36). Barb is annoyed and frustrated by Janice keeping to herself, she cannot understand her. Barb wants a strong relationship with her as sisters. For Janice, the sister relationship is too difficult and would rather prefer being friends. However, Barb does not acknowledge or accept Janice’s different views but expects Janice to want the same. Barb misunderstands the quietness of Janice and takes it personally, thinking that she wants to keep a distance from her and does not want to open up. Barb does not think of the opposite. What if Janice can’t
In the short story "Monkeyman", by Walter Dean Myers a young man changes his mind about his hometown. In this short story the plot follows a group of friends trying to affect change in their neighborhood. The narrator who wants to become a doctor and leave Harlem and never come back. When one of the narrators friends Peaches gets attacked by female members of the Tigros, Monkeyman saves her. This leads to the Tigros saying "Monkeyman must die!" and "Monkeyman got to fall." He is harassed by a member of the Tigros named Clean who is classmates with the narrator and Monkeyman. They agree to a fight at a park in the neighborhood. At the fight Monkeyman brings his Grandfather and his Godmother. He makes an allusion to Jesus by taking off his
It is fitting how after sending the text above Maggie speculated if Lacey “even knew what she was talking about” (45). Maggie and Lacey clearly do not connect in regards to the standard mother-daughter relationship, as they struggle to find a way communicate. Thus, these communication problems have taken over Maggie’s relationship with Lacey, which unfortunately further heighten Maggie’s seclusion from this society.
Robert Sapolsky is a neuroendocrinologist who wrote about his twenty years of work out in the national park of East Africa. Sapolsky’s turned his adventure into a novel, A Primate 's Memoir: A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life Among Baboons, where he discusses the life of baboons and how they are similar to humans. I will analyze Sapolsky’s novel by explaining the complex social hierarchy he witnessed and discuss the ways in which the social hierarchy and rank system among baboons might compare to that of humans. I will then analyze how studying non-human primates in a natural setting is valuable, and will also explain how the scientific study of these non-human primates ultimately provides insight into not only our evolutionary past
The night is crisp and black as the moon lets off an eerie glow, leaves rustle and fall somewhere in the distance. A silhouette dwarfs the blackberry bush in the corner as one’s footsteps refrain, they move closer; you run. Suspense is a state of tension and anxiety which was used in the sentence above and is common in books and short stories. In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs suspense is created in a variety of ways. Jacobs demonstrates this by using foreshadowing, conflict and surprise endings.
Alice’s relationship would not go very far, constructing her ending for Henry, “Henry Reyna married Della in 1948 and they have five kids, three of them now going to the University, speaking calo and calling themselves Chicanos.” This quote essentially dispersed Alice’s hope for something more with Henry. Making Alice side with Henry’s parents in his potential marriage with Della due to his responsibilities, “If it was just me and you, Henry it might be different. But you have to think of your family.” This quote shows Alice’s understanding of what Henry must do. In the end Alice’s feelings are put aside due to what cannot be done and what must be
“Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and “Dignity” to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?”, by Ed Yong, is an article that explains the intentions of the Great Ape Project (GAP). The project demands a basic set of moral and legal rights for chimpanzees,gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans. Many countries have taken part of this project such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The message of the GAP is that the animals are not property, therefore they believe apes should not be used for experiment or entertainment. However, not everyone agrees with GAP’s rights-based approach. Frans de Waal, from Emory University believes that if we give rights to the apes, why not give rights to other animals such as monkeys, dogs, and rats? Singer says, “Speaking personally, I feel we should extend rights to a wide range of nonhuman animals” and he also says, “All creatures that can feel pain should have a basic moral status.” In the EU, Jane Goodall wants experimentations on apes and all animals to end. Many people are in favor of the GAP
In the book, The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson, the earth's rotation is effected and effects everybody and everything else on the planet. The main character, Julia is affected but not nearly as bad as her mother and her former piano teacher Sylvia.
We as humans have our inner monkey to thank for much of the “human” characteristics that we enjoy today. The ways that we see the world, walk, and even think have been shaped by our primate ancestors. Though humans didn’t evolve from modern monkeys, it’s clearly evident that we do share an evolutionary relationship: a common ancestor. A particular creature called Notharctus, while perhaps not the exact common ancestor between humans and monkeys, played an important role in the development of one of the most defining primate features: the hand.
An additional theme heavily shown throughout the book is “people are defined by the choices they make”. Ben left his little sister, Sissy, to die, even though he could have made an effort to save her; because he left her, he now vows not to run from danger or those things which scare him. Furthermore, Cassie promises Sammy that she will find him and, because she makes that promise, she will stop at nothing to be with him again.
Even in her state of anger she cannot help but once again be the restrained and subdued one in their relationship. Despite all of the happiness she has found with Rochester she still cannot bring herself to stay in a relationship in which she sacrifices part of herself, because she doesn’t know how to reconcile her need feel like she belongs and is taken care of while at the same time remaining uncorrupted.
Unlike Ed, her “hot tempered” nature and her inability to empathise with her son, has meant that she is unable to adapt to the demands of Christopher’s social barriers. This is evident in a letter in chapter 157 where she states “ Maybe if things had been differant, maybe if you'd been differant i might have been better at it. But thats just the way things turned out”. The repetition of ‘maybe’ demonstrates the initial complexity of human communication which in Christophers case, was further complicated by his social demands. Through Mark Haddon’s incorporation of a letter in this chapter, the difficulties in human communication is shown as his mother has resorted to indirect communication in explaining her reasoning for his abandonment. Although Judy lovingly and diligently cares for Christopher she struggles with the frustration she feels as a result of not always being able to understand her son’s behaviour. This ideology is further reiterated through the comparison in the letter between Ed and Judy seen in “Your father is a much more pacient person. He just gets on with things.. But that’s not the way i am…” Haddon’s characterisation of Christopher’s parents presents to the responder the conflicting side of love, the multi-faceted and complicated nature of human interaction, and the opposing approaches of both parents in communicating and dealing with Christopher’s condition, as part of their
At an opportune time, Conrad tells his parents that he is seeing Dr Berger. Calvin is pleased to hear the news but Beth feels threatened. What if her friends find out? What an embarrassment! What would her friends think? Beth is so used to covering up and controlling her own feelings that the idea of someone prying into her family life is unbearable to her. We could speculate that perhaps her mother’s mannerisms and personality traits have rubbed off on Beth. Beth’s mother, Ellen, fakes a warm personality, which masks true critical
Monkey: Journey to the West is a story of an adventure for enlightenment to India in order to find ancient Buddhist scriptures. The story consists of Chinese legends, tales, and superstitions. Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism play a huge role throughout this story. Monkey: Journey to the West is a story that discusses religion, and moral issues. The monkey acts the way he does due to underlying religious themes played throughout the story. At first understanding why the Monkey acts the way he does may seem difficult. However, after reading deeper through the story one learns that social satire in the Monkey is what gives him his rebellious personality. The end of the story reveals the hidden spiritual meaning behind the monkeys change in