Stephen Chbosky's Torment

Stephen King wrote the short story “Why We Crave Horror Films” explaining why our mind gets so excited during horror movies. He continues to make the statement “the horror film has become the modern public lynching” (paragraph 6) showing that no matter what generation a person is in the excitement of gore will always exist. King proves this statement discussing emotions and psychiatric points in his work.

"The horror, the horror!" Kurtz exclaims prior to his last breath of life on earth. In those final moments, Kurtz was able to say something so true about the whole mess of human life. A life dominated by the fittest, perceived differently through each human eye, and full of judgement lacking understanding of all sides. The various ways the world is viewed causes many problems amongst its people. Whether they are about racism, wealth, or even common sense, conflicts are still subject to arouse. Why? The answer to this is not yet clear because of its complexity and endless variables. Yet what is clear is that it ties into two other aspects-prejudice and social

Humans are desirous of numerous things. Money, power, pleasure, satisfaction, and surprisingly, celebrities are all things that lead to obsession. As people focus into these things, the result is utter and blatant madness, and eventually becomes the destruction of themselves and others. In the novel Misery by Stephen King, the mental instability of Annie Wilkes and the imprisonment of Paul Sheldon shows how obsession can lead to the destruction of others.

Many sufferings are brought about in the book Ethan Frome. Each one of the three main characters bring about or cause their own suffering. Ethan Frome had an affair with Mattie, his wife Zeena's cousin. It all started with him noticing her more and more each day and starting to develop some type of feelings for Mattie. He began to notice little things he enjoyed about her. That made him happy, in a way Zeena never did. Everytime he would think about going for Mattie his mind would bounce back to his wife Zeena. He would get saddened from his happy thoughts remembering he cannot have something new and happy he is stuck with his unloving wife and awful marriage. But after Zeena left town to go see her new doctor Ethan was never more happy

I must admit I haven't read many books that I would say inspired me to pursue Seminary studies. I just finished reading the book I am going to elaborate on in this paper due to the fact that most of the books I read; and I do love to read, are usually written by authors like Stephen King, or James Patterson, not really hitting the mark as respected interpreters of God's word. The Pastrix, is a book I found amazingly close to my own story in some ways and very different in others, but her call to ministry, her journey through being so different and her need to build a new world view all resonated with me and I knew this book was the book God meant for me to read.

In part one of the novel, the narrator looks back in her life and tries to see how she used to be, in order to become who she wants to be. She is on a quest to find her father back in her old hometown, and as she’s there she does not remember any of it. She did not have the best family life because her mother would call her uncivilized and her brother was in the war. She does specifically talk about a childhood memory where her father made her brother stay in a cage, until one day he “escaped” and started drowning, which is always in the back of her mind. A family friend, Paul, tells her that her father is missing and she is relieved because he never forgave her for her divorce, so as long as he is alive she does not want to find him, symbolizing

In the novel, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards, the protagonist, David Henry, discovers that keeping one huge secret from his wife, only led to many more in the future. Told in third person point-of-view, the author supports her theme by describing the setting of a small town, where word gets around fast, establishing the central conflict of David deceiving others saying Phoebe has past away. This affects the work as a whole because Edwards’ purpose is to show how fears lead to bad judgement and horrible decisions in order to advise the audience to consider their options and evaluate their major decisions. She creates a mood of disappointment and frustration throughout the story for an audience of those who enjoy mysteries and heartache. The author’s treatment of David’s self-concerned state relates to the overall meaning of the novel showing that sometimes people try to fix what they think is best for their loved

“She saw ghosts of herself everywhere here. A twenty-three-year-old Miranda with the wrong clothes and her hair sticking up, washing her hands and peering anxiously at herself in the ladies room mirror; a twenty-seven-year-old recently divorced Miranda slouching across the lobby with her sunglasses in place, wishing she could disappear, in tears because she’d seen herself on a gossip website that morning and the headline was agonizing: IS ARTHUR SECRETLY CALLING MIRANDA? (Answer: no.) Those previous versions of herself were so distant now that remembering them was almost like remembering other people, acquaintances, young women who she known a long time ago, and she felt such compassion for them.” -Station Eleven, pgs. 205-206

Throughout the novel, The Memory of Light, the reader has learned the choices people make can affect their lives. During the story, Vicky has woken up at Lakeview hospital only remembering

However, even though they asked for criticism Luce throughout the introduction explains that she wants nothing but to see improvements and believes that no other crowd is capable of doing that. In the second paragraph she goes into detail on how “critic[ing] the weaknesses” and “expose[ing] the follies and sins” doesn't provoke a positive or even friendly response. With further detail by saying she isn't “Billy Grahams” as a way of showing the audience she isn't trying to portray herself as a expert in this topic or a person who could do that. Luce does this in order to show that she understands how straight unwanted criticism won't achieve anything but rough feelings, an idea that makes the crowd understand that she doesn't want to to invoke that type of response, therefore making them believe she wants to work with them together and further enhancing the relaxation of the crowd. She then continues to use sympathy in making the crowd feel like she understands their position by going into detail about how “no audience is more forgiving” when it comes to pursuing the task of speaking truth. Showing herself as a journalist herself she makes the comparison that the audience would be forgiving so she as well will be forgiving to them. This humanizes her into just another journalist who is willing to give advice on how to conquer “the pursuit of

After the first chapter of the novel, the audience is left seeking closure on the subject of Laura’s death. Because resolution is so anticipated, understanding the past is the key to illuminating the end. Not only is the reader awaiting the the closure that lies at the end of the novel, Laura is characterized as also seeking the truth behind what happened the night of her sister’s death

(Kate 278). This quote gives the reader a clear view into Luce’s confusion of their relationship. All the questions in her head are detours on the path toward the finish; she just needs to find the one that takes her there. It is evident that Daniel loves Luce, otherwise why would he wait around for her after she dies repeatedly; but Luce has no memories of their previous lives together. This leaves Luce in a position of trust.

In “A door… You are willing to shut” by Stephen King, he uses the term “shutting the door” literally and metaphorically. His way of writing and shutting the door is how he escapes reality and gets away from what is presently going on around him. Growing up in a world susceptible to distraction, keeping focused and remaining in control is most important. Two aspects I understood from this article are the literal shutting an actual door or metaphorically shutting the door in your mind. This term can be used in a metaphoric sense just as well as a literal sense when accomplishing the tasks at hand.

The quote given from Zizek’s essay, “The Poetic Torture-House of Language” can be interpreted in many different ways. Yet, before describing the passage, I took the time to look into the words “turmoil” and “trauma” to better understand the quote. Each time that Zizek uses the word “turmoil” I referred to it as “A state confusion, or disturbance” (Collins English Dictionary, 2012). When referring to the word “trauma” I referred to it as, “A body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident” (Dictionary.com, 2012). Defining the given words was important in aiding my understanding and interpretation of the assigned quote.

Julia Alvarez begins her story with a sit down interview between Dede and an interested investigator of her family’s story. As they start-up a discussion about her past life, Dede goes on to mention a particular moment in time, in where her father was foretelling the future of his daughters, with interruption