Spirituality In Kerouac's Tristessa

Suffering is an obstacle that everyone has to confront at all times in their life. Most of time, suffering is painful. However, if people consider it as a chance for learning, they can gain a broader appreciation of life and success. They will grow one step further in the process of overcoming and stepping out from the disincentive. However, confronting suffering is not necessarily drawing the beneficial consequences: sometimes, suffering seems ultimately pointless. It may ruin people devastatingly and even lead them to the dehumanization by drawing out their negative hidden traits. A Long Way Gone--a book of Ishmael’s dreadful memories of being a boy soldier and the atrocious truth of the war--and Othello--a tragedy of jealousy, vengeance, and love--indicate those two

The Narrator feels suffering is something we cannot control and is ridiculous to cry over as she

Freud has stated that sex is “simply life” and is the drive for all human activity (Funder, 379, 2010). During this film all of the characters have put their sexual needs before their loved ones. This can include how Sarah and Brad cheated on their spouse. Another example of this is how Ronnie acts on his sexual tendencies no matter how much it hurt his

Moreover, the author portrays the character’s loneliness, feelings, and emotions as a result of her physical and mental distress. Similarly represented in Willow Weep for Me and its depiction of Danquah, her sister, and friends’ alienation and isolation regarding their clinical depression (Danquah). Further, the “pain” and “whimpers” are the physical and emotional responses to her illness, which can be compared to Grealy’s bodily response to chemotherapy, “wanting to turn itself inside out, made wave after wave of attempts to rid itself of this unseeable intruder, this overwhelming and noxious poison” (66).

After months of misery, Melinda has to learn the indespensible methods to cope on her own. Shown throughout Speak, the message: communication will lead to recovery from phsycological suffering, is portrayed using symbolism. Speak clearly demonstrates to readers that, no matter what, people must fight for a healthy state of

As Asagai questions Beneatha’s desire to be in a position of power like God, she responds, “No - I wanted to cure. It used to be so important to me. I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt…” (133). Beneatha’s repetition of “used to” makes it apparent how her views change once Asagai opens her up to the types of challenging behavior the world will expose her to. Her clarification of what exactly she’s stopped caring about shows that Beneatha’s dream, which has molded her character since childhood, is still buried under the new mature perspective Beneatha strives to have in attempt to prove herself to the world that sees her with prejudice. Beneatha puts into question the position of power of a doctor she so craved after Walter takes advantage of being in control of the family’s money and Asagai challenges Beneatha’s every statement. When Beneatha responds with “Yes” (133) to Asagai’s question of if she’s stopped caring about curing people, the facade of certainty and maturity Beneatha attempts to wear is presented as she states this word with no hesitation, but follows it with saying, “I think so,” (133)  which displays an underlying uncertainty with which she has begun to survey the world. Beneatha’s loss of clear sense of identity is relative to her misconceptions of the world and its typical expectations of

Is this the narrator's attempt to understand the self or soul? To regain an essence of power and understanding of who she is becoming or has become? Is there a larger question here which the reader, through the narrator, must ask? Does not the narrator's disintegration or depression become but a symbol of her search for self? There is a belief, one I personally share, that depression is part of the soul's cycles--a place or time where opposing forces struggle with reason.

Analysis Essay Cheryl Strayed’s short essay “Heroin/e” tells the heart-wrenching story of her twenty-two year old self losing her mother to cancer, then explores her later troubles with a heroin addiction, and ends with a hopeful perspective for the future. Under closer analysis, this nonfiction work employs a number of literary devices. In this personal essay, “Heroin/e” uses diction to create imagery, and structures the story in a way that is symbolic of the healing journey; both of these elements add to the piece’s central theme of grief. Throughout “Herion/e”, Strayed places her words in such a way that creates a life-like mental image.

Like always, he asks, “¿Quieres café?”, which translates to, “Do you want coffee?” With the bittersweet smell, comes the bitter challenge, not having my coffee for a week. For my self-deprivation project based on the book, “Siddhartha”, I chose to give up coffee because I wanted to know how Siddhartha felt giving something up. In reality, it was a bit challenging to find similarities, but re-reading the novel made me realize I do have much in common with him. The similarities that Siddhartha and I had were that we both felt stuck in the same place, we both became dedicated, and that we both had new goals set out.

In Jean Rhys’ novel “Good Morning Midnight” the reader is introduced to Sasha Jansen. Sasha is a run of the mill alcoholic who has seemingly been handed the most dreadful hand in life. Her husband deserted her, her child died, she is poor, and mostly—she is isolated and alone. Her viewpoints on the world, and herself, are very cynical and pessimistic. Sasha’s story details her downfall in a stream of consciousness narrative that takes the reader from one thing to the next and back again. It tells of the things she has sensed which leads to the inevitable end of hopelessness which causes her to suffer severe disconnection from the world around her. The problem is, absolute hopelessness is the best thing that Sasha could find for herself.

Before being completely enamored by the ideals of Japhy’s Buddhism, he breaks out on his own. His starting state can be described when he writes, “rocky meadow with blue lupine and red poppy feathering the gray mist with lovely vagueness of color” (230). He has learned the basics of Buddhism, he knows the colors and the boxes he has to check. But, even with the knowledge, he was equipped with, it was veiled by naivety, Ray had never truly found his own Buddhism. His purpose of isolation on Desolation peak was his personal development.

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

His book details many examples of his theory and how it has helped many people improve their life, survive tragedies, as well as documents how it kept him alive throughout three years of physical and mental suffering while imprisoned. He also discusses how to find the meaning in one’s life as well as the tribulations that he and others went through once liberated.

Joanne Hyppolite’s “Dyaspora”, reveals the pain that comes from trying to survive in a world that was once not yours.

      In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the men and women of the Church in extreme forms; most of these holy pilgrims, such as the Monk, the Friar, and Pardoner, are caricatures of objectionable parts of Catholic society.  At a time when the power-hungry Catholic Church used the misery of peasants in order to obtain wealth, it is no wonder that one of the greatest writers of the Middle Ages used his works to comment on the religious politics of the day.