Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford In his poem, "Traveling Through the Dark," William Stafford presents the reader with the difficulty of one man's choice. Immediately, the scene is set, with the driver, who is "traveling though the dark" (line 1) coming upon a recently killed deer. At first, his decision with what to do with the deer is easy; he knows he must push it off the edge for the safety of other motorists, but then, a closer examination of the deer reveals to the man
Often, we cannot see the good in something until we’ve experienced the bad. Dante Aghileri, a poet who stars in his Divine Comedy as a pilgrim, finds himself lost in a dark wood. Though he sees a safe path to the light and out of the wood, he is forced to take an alternate route through an even darker place. The Divine Comedy is an allegory representative of the Christian soul. As the ending is bright and hopeful for Dante, Aghileri spreads that the ending for even the most sinful Christians can
Dante and the Nature of Sin Often, we cannot see the good until we have experienced the bad. Dante Alighieri, a poet who makes himself the main character in his Divine Comedy, finds himself lost in a dark wood at the start of The Inferno. Though he sees a safe path out of the wood towards an alluring light, he is forced to take an alternate route through an even darker place. As the ending of the pilgrim Dante’s voyage is bright and hopeful, Alighieri the poet aims to encourage even the most sinful
Midway on his journey through life, Dante realizes he has taken the wrong path. He is lucky. Many of those on the wrong path in their own lives have started on that same path on which they will also end; Dante realizes his error and, in attempting to set himself back on the right path, he goes on an important journey. Like those who also stray from their “right” path, this poet must embark on a fantastic and terrifying journey of exploration and self discovery. In
experiences that, although constitute as new knowledge, result in them viewing the world as a more destructive place. Exposure to death and destruction are commonalities in the poems, which in turn disillusion the journeyers. Flames and Dangling Wire creates dark imagery of a desolate, defective future that has been destroyed by the pollution of man. Men are compared to “scavengers/ as in hell the devils/ might pick about through souls” and are presenting people as incomplete figures of humanity. This simile
Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" Throughout time, people have traveled the trodden course of life, overcoming obstacles along the way and grasping onto hope to strengthen their steps. In her short story “A Worn Path”, Eudora Welty communicates this timeless theme through the protagonist, Phoenix, who has traveled this path many times. Through her usage of dialogue and symbolism, Welty illustrates the lasting concept that people conquer hardships in life and ultimately prevail. Welty utilizes
Realism in Eudora Welty's A Worn Path Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. The main character in the story, Phoenix Jackson, is an old black woman who seeks out to find medicine for her sick nephew. This story contains a motif, which is the continuous walking of Phoenix Jackson throughout her journey. She lives in the pinewoods and faces the challenging experience of walking through the snowy, frozen earth to get to the hospital
In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the speaker stops his horse in the woods that belonged to someone else to watch the snow fall through the trees before his long journey ahead of him. While we are busy with our everyday life we forget to stop and look around. For example, Frost says “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep” (Schilb, 1300). People sometimes are too busy with getting their jobs done and fail to notice the beauty that
plot types. However, this is not the type of death that concerns the tragedy. In this plot type, the death is “violent, premature, a death that is ‘unnatural’”. In other words, “tragically wrong”. This is the tragedy: the hero turns dark, twisted, and falls onto a path ultimately leading to his demise (Booker, 156). But simply having a tragic ending does not qualify a story as a tragedy. Booker claims that all tragedies must follow a simple formula consisting of five general stages: 1. Anticipation
journey as I tell of two short stories, “A Worn Path” and “I Used to Live Here Once”. One story will keep you in suspense wondering about this little old ladies purpose of walking a dark path, while the other story seems to be taking the character back in time to find she is only having an after death experience. As you read of the two stories, you will find they are similar in the fact that both have a symbolism of death. The short story “A Worn Path” surrounds the character Phoenix Jackson. The