Summary : ' The Digital Escape '

Augustine, distraught but resolute, decides to win the heart of Melanie. He gets a haircut and brings her a canary. The two get to talking, and despite herself, finds herself attracted to Augustine.

George Saunders writes about human behavior with some modern and not so modern examples. He invites the reader to imagine themselves at a party where someone is speaking into a megaphone. Soon the focus of the party becomes the topic the megaphone speaker is flooding into the party atmosphere. Saunders also talks about new broadcast,he mentions a news reporter reporting busy shopping activity at a mall during holiday season . What a surprise!

All day long Orloff had paced his cell. The blackness of the sky outside was equaled only by the blackness of his thoughts. The deep rolling of the thunder reverberated through the thick stone walls of his prison, and every now and then a fitful gust of rain swirled through the tiny broken window, wetting his face as he stared out into the night. Orloff cursed, wiped the water from his face with his grimy fingers, and turned to pacing his cell once more.

Every day, everywhere people are using technology to check email, calculate tax, and talk with each other. Technology has greatly affected the social structure today and in Fahrenheit 451. Technology has effected how the TV controls our lives, how we communicate with one another, and how strong the social structure is In both the real world and Fahrenheit 451.

I comfortably drive my car into the desolate street, Perusing the deserted buildings, Smashes windows and rusted For Sale signs. The car locked up like Fort Knox. I observe the street for trouble. Two young boys look at me from afar as if I'm an alien. Do I stand out that much same greasy hair, expensive clothes, a smart car I suppose I am out of my comfort zone? “Mister, you don’t belong here” his hand gripped his switch. “Pony.... Ponyboy Curtis” I stammer “I live here or at least I did, I'm here to see two-bit’ The Boys turn around “geez his old now” the boy's chirp. The boys stroll away in awe that they saw the great Ponyboy.

Dugard appeals to our emotions through pathos. During the years that Dugard was held prisoner, she became lonely and longed for someone to talk to. Phillip began to bring home stray kittens for her to call her own. However, once she became attached to them he would find an excuse to take them away. This had a major impact on Dugard, because she had nothing that belonged to her nor did she have anything to keep her occupied throughout the endless days. This also affects the readers who find themselves becoming attached to the kittens whom she describes as they grow into loving companions. In addition, the kittens reminded her of home where she had three cats she adored and dearly missed. At the time, the cats she adopted from the streets

Throughout the story “Samuel,” Grace Paley uses language to generate a healthy dialogue about the fragility of life by comparing the thoughts and reactions of all the characters in the story leading up to and following Samuel’s tragic death. The text leads the reader through four young boys’ adventures on a train. The story chronicles the thoughts of the passengers on the train in New York City, and their actions leading up to and following the unfortunate death of the main character, Samuel.

Each and every one of these characters influences Taylor and plays an important role in shaping her life. Mattie, the owner of a tire shop in Tucson Arizona, acts as a surrogate mother to Taylor. She is wise, caring, and loving towards Taylor. When Taylor first stopped at Mattie’s shop, Mattie helped Taylor take care of Turtle. She was very hospitable and gave Turtle some crackers and juice. Lou Ann Ruiz, Taylor’s best friend and roommate acts as a source of guidance and support to Taylor. Even though most of the time Taylor is helping Lou Ann with her insecurities and paranoia, Lou Ann never fails to support Taylor at her darkest times. Together, they function as a single unit, reciprocating each other’s beliefs and thoughts. Estevan and Esperanza, two refugees fleeing from their cruel life in Guatemala, also played an important role in shaping Taylor. After meeting those two, Taylor realizes that life is not as blissful as she thought it was. She finds Estevan and Esperanza’s struggles in Guatemala heartbreaking. Taylor begins to grow a close attachment to Estevan. After Estevan and his wife leave for Oklahoma, Taylor calls her mom, saying “I just love somebody I was in love with” (Kingsolver 234), implying that her bond with Estevan was something closer than friendship, despite the fact that he did not acknowledge or reciprocate

The kitten also has symbolic uses, adding to the message conveyed by Barton. Cats, historically are represented as intuitive and independent. Freely expressing themselves and not relying on other for comfort. With the kitten in Barton’s image, desperately clawing at the woman’s hand, and the woman holding the kitten close to her chest, it signifies the urgent attempt for the woman, or women in general, to pertain to sexual

Ethan, the main character, continuously fails to express himself, no matter how strongly he desires to. “He took a wild step forward and then stopped.” (88) In the scene Ethan arguing to keep the hired girl his wife and him have, but fails to show any emotion. This causes the situation to turn against him, due to his failure to show how he feels. “When the door of her room had closed on her he remembered that he had not even touched her hand.” (72) In this scene Ethan tries to connect to the hired girl, Mattie Silver, who he is secretly in love with. Ethan spends the entire night with her, and yet

To anyone from New York City, the dangers of train cars are evident. This is why, when the reader begins to see that the children are acting recklessly, he becomes quite worried. This is because there are countless numbers of warnings on trains,

His lack of social skills becomes much more apparent once he leaves the house for the first time. He has no intended destination, and wanders the streets. Once he is hurt by the limousine, he is given an injection to ease his pain. As the doctor fills the needle, he wants to show fear, not because he has had this experience before, but because "he visualized all the TV incidents in which he had seen injections being given" (Kosinski 33). Just like the prisoners in the cave, he was trying to understand a reality based on pictures in order to react to the world around him. One thing that he has never experienced is any type of a sex life. He found himself in a room with EE, where she made a sexual advance towards him. He thought back to a situation on TV where he could imitate an actor in a similar scene. He remembers a close embrace and kissing, but unfortunately

This greed and infatuation with wanting more, contradicts the concept of empathy that we as humans share for one another. Schwartz who had once seemed envious of the chimpanzee’s lack of empathy, had become apathetic himself. A flashback showing the chimpanzee as a baby being taken away from its captured parents, explains why it had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress earlier. This is an underlying point in the movie, as it humanizes the primate and animalizes the humans. Craig was prepared to change his life and consequently change John Malkovich’s life, in order to secure Maxine’s affection. Even if that sacrifice meant that he not only had to leave his wife, but also his own physical body.

Her husband is the source of her emotional despair. He leaves her drowning in a storm of indifference and lack of affection. When she goes back to the room she begins to look at herself in the mirror studying her profile feeling unwomanly with short hair. She feels this causes the lack of physical and emotional attention from her husband. When she tells him of all the things she desires, he merely tells her to "shut up." He really doesn’t care about her concerns. She doesn’t defend herself from her husband’s verbal abuse but rather begins to pout like a little girl saying, "I want a cat, I want a cat now. If I cant have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat."(pg57) Suggesting that her husband will not allow her to have long hair or any fun. She wants this cat so bad, in order to hold it, pet it, and love it, symbolizing what she wants physically, to be held and touched, and emotionally, to be loved and cared for.

“The world…is crowded, not necessarily with occupants and not at all with memorable experiences, but with happenings; it is a ceaseless flow of seductive trivialities which invoke neither reflection, nor choice but instant participation.” (Oakeshott) The idea of the lacking of realness is one of the major themes carried out throughout the novel White Noise by Don DeLillo, especially through the device of the television.