Symbolism In The Hurt Locker

“Fine then! But I am better than you in EVERY WAY!” You shout at your former friend, the anger welling up inside of you. “ Don’t even try to act like you could ever be better than me. You never could. So you can stop trying.” As soon as you spit those words out, you finally realize what you’re getting into. “You ARROGANT beast!” Your opponent shouts at you, not hesitantly at all, like the insult was a bitter taste he had to get out of his mouth. Before you know it, your actions are fueled by the burning passion of rage. About five minutes later, you are still punching the air as you are pulled of him, still trying to swing at his head, trying to hit him just once, or maybe even as many times as he hit you. You think about the fight. You don’t want to admit it, but you WERE an arrogant beast, like he said. And look where it got you. Bruised, bloody, and beaten up. Arrogance can lead to violence, and the story, “The Fight”, by Adam Bagdasarian, can very clearly reflect this theme. In the beginning of the story, Adam was cocky and arrogant. All he thought about was how great and tough he was. In the middle of the story, another middle schooler, Mike, challenged him to a fight, and Adam was petrified. At the end of the story, Adam lost the fight and was not as cocky and pride-filled.

Symbolism is an important element in reinforcing the meaning of a story. It is a kind of formalist strategies which helps the reader understand the images that the author is trying to say in words. Symbolism is widely used in “The Story of An Hour” and “The Cranes”, which use conventional symbols, literary symbols, and even allegory. “The Story of An Hour” is written by Kate Chopin. Mrs. Mallard hears of her husband’s death from her husband’s friend Richards. At first, she feels depressed, but then she feels free and can have her own new life after thinking things through. Sadly, her “new” life is cut short by the abrupt return of Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard, who has a bad heart, was so

Jarhead follows the journey of Anthony Swofford during his service in Middle East. Throughout his journey, Swofford presents a unique perspective on a variety of issues that indirectly affect American life and the “war” on terrorism. Some of the issues touched on include the mental stability and mentality of American soldiers, the influence of politics in the presentation of war, and the construction of a marine. Through these themes, along with the unique perspectives offered by the characters in the film, the audience is able to gain insight into the corruption and lies that are “war”. This insight ultimately helps the audience analyze the text deeper and enables them to draw the similarities in current events and dissect what they

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, gives us the theme of violence by using three symbols of destruction through the novel to represent the breakdown of civilization. With the beginning of the novel, Palahniuk reveals the three symbols a gun, an anarchy, and an explosion which all lead up to the three main characters in the novel. Tyler Durden as the gun, Marla as the anarchy, and the narrator as the explosion. With all the destruction being done throughout the novel by these character explains why these symbols represent them and society. All of the symbols are known for bringing pain or damaging people or things. The three characters are all in love with each other while Tyler and the narrator are making clubs to cause harm to the public. Tyler

Another character development showed an example in the move, “Spirited Away” when Master Haku, a boy in the spirit world who assisted Chihiro seemed as though he couldn’t be trusted; however, the scene flipped where Haku was shown as a loving caring person. Additionally, in “Ponyo” an example was also shown of Sosuke, a little boy helping Ponyo when she was trapped in a jar; at first, the way the director depicted that scene, it seemed as if the boy was going to hurt Ponyo which turned out not to be the case, that he too, like Haku was a loving caring human being. From the narrator’s point of view all of the characters looked suspicious, that some of them needed something; towards the end of the movies, the audiences could tell that the director was trying to alter the human perceptions.

Both The Hurt Locker and The Forever War discuss revenge as an integral part of the violent experience of the war. Bigelow begins this discussion by examining revenge as the rationale behind Sergeant James’ erratic and violent tendencies, and Filkins completes this discussion by thoroughly studying the prevalence of revenge as the propelling factor of violence. In The Hurt Locker, the largely unpredictable character of Sergeant William James becomes primarily understood by his desire to avenge the supposed death of Beckham, a young Iraqi boy from whom he buys DVDs. Here,

“The Fountain House” presents the idea of relinquishing for a loved one at any cost. Ludmilla Petrushevskaya weaves a dreamlike reality to capture a father’s conviction that his daughter can still live in spite of various medical professionals pronouncing her dead. The effect characterizes the father as delusional. The story’s pathetic symbolism emphasizes the heartbreaking situation of a father, so desperate to save his daughter that he is willing to commit the ultimate transgression.

War is portrayed as something emotional that every living being goes through in their lifetime. Most of the people experience.

When people think of war what comes to mind is death, torture, and destruction. War instills fear since everyone dreads involvement in the ordeal (Mazlish 10). The experience of war leaves people with physical and psychological scars. Tim Obrien in “The Things they Carried” brings to light the tribulations faced by the soldiers in their quest to restore peace. He asserts, ‘war is hell (Brien 8).’This is an exhilarating story that brings to light the fact that, despite their participation in the war, soldiers are still human. Stanley Kubrick echoes Obrien’s sentiments in his award winning film the Full Metal Jacket. Both highlight the ugly truths of war as full of cruelties and absurdities. The experience of war for the soldiers shows that they are still human with feelings and emotions (Mazlish 11). For some, their emotions grow stronger while others undergo mental anguish and breakdowns, but whatever the case nobody is ever the same again.

Sylvia Plath’s novel, “The Bell Jar”, tells a story of a young woman’s descent into mental illness. Esther Greenwood, a 19 year old girl, struggles to find meaning within her life as she sees a distorted version of the world. In Plath’s novel, different elements and themes of symbolism are used to explain the mental downfall of the book’s main character and narrator such as cutting her off from others, forcing her to delve further into her own mind, and casting an air of negativity around her. Plath uses images of rotting fig trees and veils of mist to convey the desperation she feels when confronted with issues of her future. Esther Greenwood feels that she is trapped under a bell jar, which distorts her view of the world around her.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that runs through our military system and is often vastly overlooked. It is a little-known mental health problem that is poorly understood. It can be traced back to the times of the Civil War and has been given names like shell-shocked syndrome, PTSD, soldier's heart, and combat fatigue. A soldier who has experienced combat or military exposure of any level of severity can be susceptible to this anxiety disorder and its symptoms. The Hollywood film The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, depicts the American soldier’s battles with PTSD and shows how drastic its effects can be. There is a whole other world between life on the battlefield and life on the

The Hurt Locker can give almost anybody the nerves with its numerous suspenseful moments. But what lies inside all the tension filled scenes is a much deeper meaning. Kathryn Bigelow stresses an important message in this Oscar-winning epic. Although the film depicts the gruesome horrors of war, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker is not an anti-war film. The Hurt Locker is a film about James’s addiction to war because it shows his desire tension risk filled scenes, his lack of resentment for the war, and his inability to integrate himself back into “normal society”

In Marjane Satrapi's word-specific panel about refugees fleeing north on page 89, she indicates the perilous situation of the war through taxis escaping flaming iconography. The bombing of border towns in the Iran-Iraq war forces residents to abandon their homes and belongings in the hope of finding refuge in the northern cities. The foreboding, chaotic scene underscores a period of turmoil in Iranian history. The words of the panel state, “After Abadan, every border town was targeted by bombers. Most of the people living in those areas had to flee northward, far away from the Iraqi missiles.” Satrapi sets the backdrop of warfare with intense, slightly militaristic words such as “targeted,” “flee,” and “far away”. This being a word-specific panel, the graphic

“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” This quote is the first thing that flashes across the screen as viewers begin their journey into The Hurt Locker, a critically acclaimed war movie written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt). The quote was written by former New York Times war correspondent, Chris Hedges and it perfectly sets the stage for a story that depicts just how potent and addicting war can be (Corliss). The 2008 movie won six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Leading Role (“Nominees & Winners”). The Hurt Locker is an exceptional movie that contains everything one would expect from an award-winning film:

Director Peter Berg based this movie off of Marcus luttrell the survivor of Operation Red Wings. This powerful war film features actor Mark Walberg who portrays the real life