The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart Essay

It depicts death as a man who has the ability to make conscious decisions, as a human would. Death is not a person, but giving it human qualities creates an air of mystery and curiosity as to why death would simply walk away or why it would stay and take a life. There is no rhyme nor reason for why death comes at a specific time or to claim a specific person.

James Joyce’s short story, “The Dead” depicts characters that all are seemingly alive, yet, on the inside, are very much dead. The main character, Gabriel Conroy, is more concerned with himself and how he is perceived than anyone else. His conceited nature plays a major role in his epiphany at the end of the story. After his wife, Gretta, divulges her childhood to Gabriel and the first young man who ever loved her, Gabriel come to the realization that “he had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that feeling must be love (p. 628). With Gabriel’s sudden epiphany, the issue the readers knew, but he did not, surfaced. Gabriel was dead inside and only cared about himself. Any form of love he ever gave was to himself to boost his own egotistical personality.

In the story we see the development of the young man into adulthood and responsibility. He seems to be a fair headed person but once Death begins to give him riches and fame we see that the young man's behavior begins to change. Since it seems that the young man never really has to work for his riches he begins to take his fame and wealth, and his godfather for granted. This is demonstrated three times in the story, once when the king becomes ill, second when the princess becomes sick herself and is in need of a physician and finally when the young doctor is shown his candle of life.

This novel is a classic example of many people's lives, which includes fear, jealousy, pride and their insecurities to name a few. The transformation of the narrator from before his reincarnation until afterwards is filled with tragedy and grief, but it is through the sacrifice of his own life that he is permanently freed from his jealousy and egotism. His "punishment" or his purgatory seemed to prove how good of a person he was all

Where there is life, there is death. Writers around the world have tried to define death; to give it meaning and explain its impact. A common literary device known as personification is often used to attribute human-like characteristics to death in an attempt to show their interpretations of death. Personification allows us to “use insight about ourselves to help us comprehend such things as forces of nature, common events, abstract concepts, and inanimate objects” (qtd. Quinn). In Billy Collins’ “My Number”, Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, and Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death has been personified into characters that range from civil to malicious and content to discontent. “My Number” is about a man who is fearful of what he believes to be a cunning and cruel Death.

Again, a main protagonist, Henry, links to the theme of death through some key events involving a character who was once alive in the novel but is now dead. This theme is evident when Henry’s “friend” named Trot, dies in an unexpected car crash. “Trot was dead. Dead. The word, although Henry had not said it out loud, began to take on some form, as if it was solidifying. He’d never had to deal with the word, or the world like this before. Trot was dead. He was gone. Now. Gone. Henry sat, hands draped, the silver case of his watch glittering at the corner of his eye. He felt weak and infinitely clueless.” (pg. 174) This quote establishes how Henry was completely and utterly shocked about the death of his friend. He couldn’t even bring himself up to saying the word. This shows a huge similarity to how individuals react to the death of a friend in today’s society. Metzenthen strongly represents the theme of death using Henry’s character. Similarly, with Henry, we sense that he is weary and heartsick over the thought of death. Throughout the novel, the author is able to illustrate the idea of death, and show how many people in today’s society also see it as a horrible and heartbreaking

The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether its on television or newpaper, you'll probobly hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death effects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.

The author asks question in the play, what happens when you die? Everyman looks back into his life and tries to find a time that he can give up but he is not ready to do so. Throughout the play, Everyman begins to realize the things he thought were important

development of the plot. It comes down to the point where a self-respected-man like himself

The theme of this novel is to look at the good you do in life and how it carries over after your death. The moral of the book is; "People can make changes in their lives whenever they really want to, even right up to the end."

It urges men to recognize that they are all “brothers” and offenses committed upon each other are the result of ignorance of the aforementioned ability to distinguish between good and evil. It also wishes to emphasize that suffering in one's life is not the product of the external world, rather it is either a natural event that man must overcome or the soul committing “violence to itself” through thoughtless, foolish, or evil actions. This perspective encourages individuals to improve oneself rather than to blame the world for events beyond their control. Death is something to be embraced as a natural end to a very brief existence, “a mere point” as he calls it. Fame is discarded as meaningless, and with its death a narrative of a personal journey emerges rather than one that is endorsed by the observations of others. All this points to Marcus Aurelius being a man of great humility despite his great power and

Another important aspect of the novel is that of sexuality and of same-sex desire. Froehlich states that, in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries,

The main analysis this essay with cover is comparing how the three stories discuss and express class and heritage, as well as how death can cause people to not only think things in a different way but also how death can open your eyes to something you never would have seen otherwise. Another thing that is potentially easily missed is how each of the individuals writing styles and backgrounds affect the ground work of the stories and how they progress.

While it would be very easy to focus on the constant assault of the sexuality of both the men and women that are represented in this story, I feel that sexuality is only a minor theme. The provocativeness that the story contains is used more to draw people to either listen or view the story itself than present a major theme in sexuality. The major issue that he is trying to bring forward is that of conflict and how it occurs in more than just war. Let's look at the three major conflicts within this story.

In the play Death of a Salesman, the author investigates human nature and represents his main character as a person whose dissatisfaction with his own life leads to his tragic end. The plot of