The Life of Eleanor Maud in Sarah Winman's When God Was a Rabbit

The Eye of the Sheep, written by Sophie Laguna is a strong example of how memorable texts can both disturb the reader as well as instil hope. The novel follows the story of the narrator Jimmy Flick, a young, unusual boy and his family. Laguna’s writing style and use of language throughout the text enables the reader to feel the pain and distress in Jimmy’s family without ever losing hope that things will work out. One of the ways in which she does this is through the use of Jimmy’s voice, as it allows the reader to feel the positive energy bubbling inside of Jimmy, while still witnessing the problems that Jimmy’s family have to deal with, such as his father’s drinking habits. Another way is the manner in which the characters are constructed. All the members of Jimmy’s family have multiple facets to them. They are all complex characters that have both light and darkness within them. Through these cleverly constructed characters, Laguna how even good people can do disturbing things. While reading the Eye of the Sheep, there have been multiple different perspectives that have enriched my own interpretation of this text, that again show different facets to the story.

The short stories, “Turned”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Good Corn”, by H.E Bates provide strong examples of how the representation of characters influence’s the reader’s perception of a text. Both stories depict similar characters: a middle-aged, childless wife, her husband and an 18-year old girl who works for them. They are both about a similar situation: man cheats on wife with girl and girl falls pregnant. However, the author’s of the text are from very different backgrounds and this is reflected in their stories. Although there are many similarities between “The Good Corn” and “Turned”, the values reflected in these stories, their resolutions and the reader’s perception of them are vastly different due to the contexts of

What Janie’s grandma experienced was not warm, caring love. Getting love was the worst thing to ever happen to Nanny. The child conceived by the horrific effects of the rape, Leafy, was also sexually assaulted at a young age. One day Nanny explains to Janie, “But one day she didn’t come home at de usual time and Ah waited and waited, but she never come home all dat night… De next mornin’ she came crawlin’ in her hands and knees… Dat school teacher had done hid her in the woods all night long, and he had donerped muhbaby and run on off just before day” (Hurston 18). This shows that someone as sensitive as your first love and virginity can be the worst thing to ever happen to a little girl. Leafy gave birth to Janie and left the newborn with her mother, Nanny, to live the rest of her life drinking away the pain. When Nanny explains how Janie’s mother left it further highlights the idea of love being the worst tragedy in one’s life. The rape left Janie’s mother absolutely broken, to the point she could not raise the child. Janie never met her mother and never got the love she wanted from her maternal mom. The love and sexual interest the Crawford women hoped to get wasn’t what they

     The plan for Janie’s future begins with her lack of having real parents. Hurston builds up a foundation for Janie that is bound to fall like a Roman Empire. Janie’s grandmother, whom she refers to as “Nanny” takes the position as Janie’s guardian. The problem begins here for Janie because her Nanny not only spoils her, but also makes life choices for her. Nanny is old, and she only wants the best for her grandchild, for she knows that the world is a cruel place. Nanny makes the mistake of not allowing Janie to learn anything on her own. When Janie was sixteen years old, Nanny wanted to see her get married. Although Janie argued at first, Nanny insisted that Janie get married. “’Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhood on yuh… Ah wants to see you married right away.’” (Page 12). Janie was not given a choice in this decision. Her Nanny even had a suitor picked out for her. Janie told herself that she would try to make the best of the situation and attempt to find love in her marriage to Logan Killicks. But, as time went by, Janie realized that she still did not have any feelings of what she had considered to be love in her husband.

Storytelling has been used for all of human existence to pass down ideas and morals. Writing was just the next step in allowing additional individuals to have access to the multitude of new stories being created. When different people read the same story, they are able to glean different things from it. This is due to the fact that people read the stories on different levels and with differing viewpoints. Upon the first reading of “Dream Children”, by Gail Godwin, a reader may view the story as a timeless, boring love story. However, if a reader dives into the story from a feministic approach, one sees a deeper plot where Mrs. McNair is imprisoned by societal norms and longs for an understanding of her feelings and desires.

In Godwin’s story “A Sorrowful Woman”, the mother has a series of very complex feelings and emotions. From the story, it can be inferred that this is a woman with a sudden onset of mental illness, a woman who has lost her identity and sense of belonging; and a woman who is consciously aware of all this, knowing she is a burden to her loved ones.

This all changes when she goes to spend a summer with her dad and is shown the many wonders that being a kid can have. The overlying theme of this book is to never give up. Don't give up on a person because of who they are, and don't give up on the quest of life. One of

       As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist.  Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be.  She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170).  However, in a time

The moment Rabbit meets Lucy, he objectifies her. When Rabbit rings the doorbell at Eccles’ home, “A crisp little number with speckled green eyes opens the door” (122). His first thought is commenting on her appearance in a rather patronizing way. Rabbit then flirts with Lucy, attempting to be coy, but he just agitates her. Inside the house, Rabbit reflects on their brief interaction, “At once, absurdly, he feels in control of her, feels like she likes him” (122). Rabbit feels as if he was successful in wooing the married woman, and this makes him even more confident. This unsubstantiated success gives Rabbit the feeling of power and dominance he has been seeking. While he talks to Lucy, he again mentally comments on her figure. He thinks, “Her bare legs, crosses, show the blue dabs of varicose veins. Her face, when she sits, is not as young as at the door. Double chin when she relaxes, head tucked back. Smug little cookie. Firm little knockers” (123). Rabbit’s condescending tone further exemplifies the position of power he feels he has gained. Rabbit’s euphoria with his feeling of superiority causes him to react. Updike explains, “… in a mindless follow-through, an overflow of coordination, she having on the drop of his answer turned with prim dismissal away from him again, slaps! her sassy ass. Not hard: a cupping hit, rebuke and fond pat both, well placed on the pocket” (125). Rabbit abuses his perceived dominance, shocking Lucy into silence. Rabbit’s brief discourse with Lucy Eccles divulges some of the most prominent aspects of his personality. His thoughts, impulses, and actions demonstrate to the reader how quickly Rabbit takes advantage of power, whether or not it truly exists, to fulfill his

The bond between a mother and child is often spoken of as being unlike any other. Yet there are always exceptions to the rule where this connection isn 't as impenetrable as one might assume. This book is an example of this bond gradually becoming weaker over time. It shows how it affects the child, Bone, and leaves her vulnerable to the abuse of her step-father. Bone’s mother, Anney, had fallen in love with a man who abused her which at first, she’s unaware but eventually comes to realize but still chooses to stay with him. Throughout the book there are instances of Anney’s negligence in recognizing her daughter’s abuse and being of aid to her but wasn 't. In having to deal with her

“The Erl-King,” a short story written Angela Carter in 1979, draws on the Danish and German folk stories of the Herla-king or Erlkönig. Using the folklore as a guide, Carter creates a story centered on death, love, and marriage. However, in this story, the Erl-King does not draw in the narrator and other young girls for the sake of killing them; instead, as they lose themselves in his wood, they transform into birds and become trapped in the cages he makes for them. The death that the Erl-King traditionally brings is then transformed into a figurative death, a loss of oneself and one’s freedom, that comes with the love of and for the Erl-King. Supplemented by biblical imagery, “The Erl-King” showcases the way that love and marriage can entrap women and lead to the effacement of their identity, an outcome that the narrator triumphs against in the end.

Our Lady’s Child, is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, filled with religious doctrine and teachings of the importance of obedience, repentance, and salvation. The fairy tale begins with a poor woodcutter who has a three year old daughter which he cannot feed. The Virgin Mary appears one day and promise to take care of the young child and thus takes her to live in the kingdom of heaven, where she lives happily until she disobeys the Virgin Mary by misusing the keys of Heaven and opening the thirteenth door of Heaven. Once the Virgin returns, she banishes the young girl from the kingdom of Heaven for disobedience and lying multiple times. The girl wakes up in a forest, unable to speak and is found by a King who takes her home, marries her impregnates her three separate times. Each time the Virgin comes and takes the children away to Heaven until the girl confesses her sin, upon which the Virgin returns the children to her and restores her ability to speak and live a happy life. While this tale appears to be promoting the religious doctrine of salvation through confessing, its underlying message symbolically helps young girls to navigate through the awkward feelings of the Electra Complex and the animalistic sexual desires of the id by using archetypes and symbols to represent these feelings.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll endures as one of the most iconic children 's books of all time. It remains one of the most ambiguous texts to decipher as Alice 's adventures in Wonderland have created endless critical debate as to whether we can deduce any true literary meaning, or moral implication from her journey down the rabbit hole. Alice 's station as a seven year old Victorian child creates an interesting construct within the novel as she attempts to navigate this magical parallel plain, yet retain her Victorian sensibilities and learn from experience as she encounters new creatures and life lessons. Therefore, this essay will focus on the debate as to whether Alice is the imaginatively playful child envisaged by the Romantics, or a Victorian child whose imagination has been stunted by her education and upbringing.

When the maid gave birth to a son, she mentions that the father was a lace-pedlar, but “the whole house knows very well who the guilty one is” (Blicher 21). Even though the harmonious environment was maintained, in reality, the environment is chaotic that is filled with adultery. This is revealed when Jens and Miss Sophie’s relationship comes into light. This corresponds to Blicher’s theme of God being distant and the human world is dominated by spite and sexuality. (Monrad, 10-21-16, sl. 3). Miss Sophie only wanted to live the rest of her life with the one she loved, but God seemed to not have listened to her prayers. This also applies to Morten as he has wanted to end his life multiple times throughout the story, but God never answered to his prayers.

In the story of Alice in Wonderland we follow Alice down a rabbit hole into a land of pure wonder, where the logic of a little girl holds no sway. In Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, we witness exactly the opposite as Emma Bovary, a most romantic creature, is purposely cast into a harshly realistic world. In either case, a creature is put into an environment unnatural to her disposition, yet in Flaubert’s example, Emma shares the world we inhabit, and thus the message her story brings is much more pertinent. To convey this message, Flaubert replicates not a world of fantasy, but rather the real world, with all its joy, sadness, and occasional monotony intact. Then he proceeds to dump an