In “Liberating Christ: Sargeant’s Metamorphosis in Langston Hughes’s “On the Road,” Carolyn P. Walker talks about what she feels the story “On the Road” is about. She does make some interesting points, but I feel like some of them are not correct. Walker’s main points support the opinion that the story is based on racism and also claims that it is a “Reenactment of the Biblical story [Samson and Delilah]” (749). While racism may be touched upon in the story, I feel that the main point of this story is to show the influence of money in Christian society.
Walker first makes the claim that the snow is “a symbol of the white oppressive world” (745), and Sargeant is trying to ignore it. I can see why she may think this way but, there was so many
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I believe that Sargeant saw the church and felt like he finally had found somewhere that would help him, so that is why he shook off the snow. He gained some confidence and hope and was preparing to step inside the building. Walker makes the point that Sargeant has tried every way he knew how to, but nothing worked, so he had to resort to force (748). This is a clear resolution to make. He begins trying to break down the church door and let himself in. soon a couple police officers and a crowd of people surround him to try and get him to leave, so Sargeant grabs the pillars. Walker compares Sargeant to Sampson from the book of Judges (749) because sergeant pulls down the pillars of the church. Perhaps Walker is on to something, but there are many differences in the two stories. Sargeant relied only on his own strength; He never asked for God’s help, while Sampson prayed for strength. Really, I saw no sign that Sargeant was a religious man at any point in the story. The only real similarity between the two stories would be that they were both destroying some kind of distorted
it. There was a faint sign of rebellion hidden behind this idea..." (Politzer, 76-77) All of
I have chosen The Metamorphosis as my subject for this paper; I will take a close look at how the death of Gregor Samsa opens the doors to understanding the story. I will give examples of irony through Gregor’s metamorphosis and how this irony brings together the conclusion of the story. Through his death we see the truth behind his parents, which in it’s self is ironic. It is difficult to pinpoint one specific thing to write about in the story; there are just so many things that can be brought to light. If I happen to lose sight of my topic bear with me, there is just so much to be discussed in the novella.
When individuals are rejected by family and society, they tend to feel abandoned and unloved. In Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation into a “monstrous vermin” (Kafka 1) results in him being psychologically and even physically abused by his family. Rejection from his mother, sister, and father leave Gregor feeling unwanted and feeling as if he is a terrible burden on the family and their well being.
In Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, the character Gregor transforms from a man into a bug, specifically a cockroach. Although Gregor physically changes, he does not change as a person. Gregor merely accepts his new condition as a bug and his family’s continuous abuse and hostility. Gregor’s acceptance of his new bug form is representative of his passive personality before and after his transformation. Gregor’s passivity, in response to the hostile world around him, causes his eventual downfall. Therefore, Kafka uses the character Gregor to exemplify how a passive attitude can cause one’s demise.
Langston Hughes’s personal narrative “Salvation” is a recollection of Hughes’s experience with salvation at a religious revival at his aunt’s church. He recounts his experience in order to describe how it led to his enormous guilt over deceiving his aunt and the congregation and how it stemmed his disbelief in religion. His ironic tone and vivid imagery plays a key role in the development of the conflict and the complications that he faces. In order to dramatize suspenseful moments and magnify key points, he uses an array of rhetorical devices.
In Langston Hughes, "On the Road" the Sargeant is a homeless Black man that is desperate for food and shelter. In his desperation, Sargeant goes to the church to refuge, but there is no one at the Church to help him get refuge. Although Sargent is living in a time where the depression is in existence amongst all people, Black and White, he finds no one to help him. Sargent goes to the Church because the Church helps people. However, because Sargeant is Black and the Church is populated by a White congregation, he is rejected. In the story " One the Road", one of the people: A big black unemployed Negro holding onto our church... "The idea"! This represents that Sargent wants the benefits of the white
Langston Hughes’ dedication to depicting the bona fide aspects of black life leads him to discuss struggle. One of the most omnipresent themes in black life, at the time of Hughes, is the constant struggle they face every
The Road portrays the journey of the father and son across a black and white world that is analogous to my experiences of the quest of survival in Afghanistan and the refugee camp in Pakistan. Where many have abandoned their beliefs and morals to survive the hellish situation. Those who survive with their beliefs and values still in intact are constantly challenged on a day-by-day basis. Their survival must be persevered to keep the fire burning, however small for their own children. There must be some goodness that remains for their children to carry into the next generations. They must always remain
Langston Hughes is one the most renowned and respected authors of twentieth century America not simply one of the most respected African-American authors, though he is certainly this as well, but one of the most respected authors of the period overall. A large part of the respect and admiration that the man and his work have garnered is due to the richness an complexity of Hughes' writing, both his poetry and his prose and even his non-fictions. In almost all of his texts, Hughes manages at once to develop and explore the many intricacies and interactions of the human condition and specifically of the experience growing up and living as a black individual in a white-dominated and explicitly anti-Black society while at the same time, while at the same time rendering his human characters and their emotions in a simple, straightforward, and immensely accessible fashion. Reading the complexity behind the surface simplicity of his works is at once enjoyable and edifying.
J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is the chronicle of a young man's metamorphosis from immaturity to unsure manhood. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year old boy who leaves the prep school he has been expelled from to escape the frightening reality of dealing with his parents. However, during his visit to New York City he is faced with the harsh reality that he cannot continue to hold onto his childhood. Holden is an extremely complex character and it is only by examining each layer of him that the reader is able to understand his painful metamorphosis.
Change plays a major role in one's life. It is what makes one’s life unique and different. In the novel, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa, the protagonist, initially appears as a respectful young man working as a traveling salesman to pay off his family debts and provide for his family. But then Gregor goes through a transformation that turns him into a gigantic insect. Even though Gregor’s sister, father, and mother undergo many changes, the most significant transformation that occurs in the story is the change in Gregor, from an ordinary working man to a gigantic insect. This initial transformation becomes only the first impulse, which causes a lot of changes in his external and internal world along with forcing him to adapt to his new position in the family.
The Road is a story where is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the date and location is unnamed. The author of the novel Cormac McCarthy doesn 't describe why or how the disaster has demolish the earth. But after reading the novel, I can sense that the author wanted to present a case of mystery and fear to the unknown to the reader. By the author 's exclusion I think that the story gains a better understanding of what the author wanted to express to the reader. An expression of a man and his son surviving in a post-apocalyptic setting.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novella that begins with an absurd concept. A man wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. While this concept for a story is certainly absurd, Kafka contrasts this plot with a rather dull, plain narrative. It may initially seem novel to explain a ridiculous situation in a simple manner, but this causes the novella to be quite boring.
Another point that is conveyed by Langston Hughes' work is the use of anger and instinct to survive in his main character Sargeant. When combined, these two aspects of human nature can become a powerful force when it comes to taking action against the suppression of society. In a time of depression, Sargeant faced society with a vision of racism. And a feeling of anger is only natural when limitations are placed on one’s life. As Sargeants anger rose from being denied entry into a white church and being attacked for it, survival instinct kicks in, while the feelings of being forced from God push him forward. It's plainly clear that Sargeant is struggling for his survival and it is also clear that due to
Another point that is conveyed in Langston Hughes' work is the use of anger and survival in his main character. These two things combined can be a powerful force when it comes to taking action against the suppression of society. The main character faced society in the vision of racism. Langston Hughes expressed that the thought of the black man was the fact that the black man was mistreated and the whites were to blame. Anger is often the result when expressions are limited. From anger, survivalist mode kicks in, and the feeling of being detached from God. As seen in the works, it's clear that Sargeant is struggling for survival. It's also clear that due to the pain he feels whites have inflicted upon him; he will now take any measures necessary to insure his own best interest. Langston Hughes conducted his words of this literature to make points clear and abrasive. The main character was desperate and wanted to prove the whites wrong, but what was actually going on was not the proving the