The McEachern’s, an older southern couple who raise Joe Christmas, are similar to Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Light in August by William Faulkner was written in the style of Sothern gothic and this painting is entitled American Gothic. The McEachern’s live on a farm similar to the family in the painting. Similar to the look the farmer man in the painting has, Mr. McEachern looks at a young, orphaned Joe Christmas whom he is about to adopt “with a stare cold and intent and yet not deliberately harsh. It was the same stare with which he might have examined a horse or a second hand plow.” Mr. McEachern relationship with Mrs. McEachern is one where he had all the power and “she had been hammered stubbornly thinner and thinner like some passive …show more content…
McEchern is not even treated as a person by her husband or by Christmas. In the painting the man is holding the pitchfork and thus holding all the power over his wife, like the McEcherns. The woman in American Gothic is looking toward the man with her brow together in disagreement but her mouth is shut tightly. This is similar to the McEacherns, when Mrs. McEachern tries to get between Christmas and the “punishment which, deserved or not, just or unjust, was impersonal.” Mrs. McEachern makes Christmas food behind Mr. McEachern’s back after a hash beating by Mr. McEachern. Although Mrs. McEachern tries to help Christmas in small secret ways, she is not brave enough to stand up to her husband and stop the beating and mistreatment of Christmas. Like in the house, the barn and the clothing the two people wear which is simple in the painting, which are both plain and simple, the McEacherns live plainly where they “fear God and abhor idleness and vanity.” The man in the painting looks cold and distant and the relationship between the two people in the painting looks unemotional. The steady beating of Christmas starting at a young age, is an extreme example of the unemotional harshness that Mr. McEachern has shown his wife before Christmas arrives slowing bending her to his will and making her “the medium and the vigorous and ruthless husband the
Winter Scene in Moonlight is an art created by Henry Farrer in 1869, 1800-1900 A.D. This art is a drawing made out of watercolor and gouache on a white wove paper. The dimension is 11 7/8 x 15 3/16 inches or 30.2 x 38.6 centimeters. The meaning behind the drawing is not that explicit but the speculation is that Farrer’s work is illustrating Brooklyn because that is where he spent most of his life.
“The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were to tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.” (Seuss).
The visual’s background is formed by a dark and starry night sky; stretching across the image and transitioning into a sunny day sky. This is a representation of the passage of time, life, death, and the power of memories. The nighttime depicts ageing and adulthood, whereas the daytime represents youth and life. In the poem, the narrator describes the sky, ‘Ambiguous night, ambiguous sky,’ which is symbolic for the transience between adulthood and childhood. An ambiguous sky is a sky which is unclear or undecided. The faded transition from the night sky to the day sky reflects this notion and the uncertainty of memories; displaying how the poem
Although a sociologist can look at Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch that Stole Christmas in all three of the major theoretical perspectives, the main one expressed is symbolic interactionism. The Grinch that Stole Christmas is a story about a “who” who was not considered to be part of their “whoville” society due to the fact that he not only looked different from the rest of the people, but he acted in different ways than their norms. The story is merely about how the Grinch hates the “whos,” because of how they treated him; until, a little girl named Cindy Lou Who gains a curiosity for the Grinch and wants to give him another chance to be a part of their society. Throughout the story both of the main characters develop a deep connection to each other. Upon viewing the story from a symbolic interaction perspective view, I discovered how the story thematically symbolizes an important part of Christmas by giving people another chance; meanwhile, focusing on the relationship between the main two characters help them regain faith, and while the setting symbolizes their society’s purpose.
In Emily Dickenson's "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark," and in Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night," the poets use imagery of darkness. The two poems share much in common in terms of structure, theme, imagery, and motif. Both poems are five stanzas long: brief and poignant. The central concepts of being "accustomed" to something, and being "acquainted" with something convey a sense of familiarity. However, there are core differences in the ways Dickenson and Frost craft their poems. Although both Dickenson and Frost write about darkness, they do so with different points of view, imagery, and structure.
In The Painted Door, the setting is a small farm which supports a man named John and his wife, Ann. The farm on which they live is rather desolate as they are not in a very close proximity to any of their neighbours and are often secluded to their house during the winter seasons with their only interactions being a game of cards with their neighbour, Steven. This scenario in which these two live can be reflected by the environment around them. The story takes place in the midst of a tremendous blizzard, the blizzard is so powerful that Ann can’t walk outside without being pushed over by the wind. This snow covered abyss exemplifies how alone the couple is. The darkness and literal isolation from the rest of the world are clear indicators of this. The dark and cold also represents how Ann views her relationship with John. She yearns for his affection and his attention, but despite these needs all John ever does is work. He works himself to the bone so that Ann can be comfortable with her place in life failing to realize that all she’s ever wanted was affection and company, which she eventually finds in Steven. The Lamp At Noon also makes good use of its setting to help develop the themes as well as the marriage of this story’s couple, Paul and Ellen. The setting of this story is a dried up farm where no crops grow. The whole farm is shrouded in a cloud of dust and wind. The dust fills the air of Paul and Ellen’s house completely smothering everything with dust. Ellen, coming from a richer household, urges Paul to leave believing that they have no future here and that the crops will never grow again. Ellen left a life of comfort and luxury for a dusty, decrepit farm, resulting in feelings of isolation, anger and hopelessness. However, Paul is determined to stay and live off the land, he has faith that the crops will grow and their farm will be prosperous once more. This is
The Winter is the opposite of summer, during the winter not only does the winter change but the town's appearance. The houses that once looked artificial were exposed and looked abandoned. “Winter comes down savagely over a little town on the prairie...The roofs, that looked so far away across the green treetops...they are so much more uglier then when their angles were softened by vines and
It is impossible to find a family that is problem free and does not go through its ups and downs. Seasons often marks a progress, here it not only sets the way for Doodles progress of becoming like a normal boy, but it is used as a way to show the growth of the sibling relationship between the two brothers. Seasons and weather play an important role in setting the tone and mood of the story. An example of the motif of seasons and weather is seen in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst as doodles progress goes along with each season. This motif is used to develop the relationship between Doodle and his brother as evident through the clove of seasons, summer, and storms.
"Although there was evening brightness showing through the windows of the bunkhouse, inside it was dust". This shows that the light tries to get in but never manages to penetrate the darkness. This is important to the themes of the story because workers' hope for a future farm is just like the light while the cruel reality is like the darkness. Their efforts to realize this plan is just like the light trying to penetrate the darkness, but their dream
In Spring Ford Community Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol, the rhetoric utilized by the director and actors in the creation of this play helps strengthen the argument that the tale is still relevant and connects to the modern era, which is proposed in Stephanie Allen’s Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” Told Uncomfortable Truths About Victorian Society, But Does it Have Anything to Teach Us Today?. Through the use of emotional appeals and the chronological progression of the play, this production makes the tale believable and reconnects it to common themes found in modern literature. The purpose of this production is to reinforce how these themes affect life and to display a positive outlook to the holiday season, which is done by the connection of this production with the viewer.
As the story develops, the reader’s thoughts are guided by the structure of the piece in a way that Tan is able to share an important lesson through the form of a personal narrative. The opening text immediately introduces the narrator and her insecurities as she wishes for a “slim new American nose” (Tan 1). The story initially takes on a negative tone as Tan proceeds to have a negative outlook throughout the entire evening. Her overwhelming anxiety can almost be felt by the reader as she worries what Robert will think of her “noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners” and overall “shabby Chinese Christmas” (Tan 1). With the tone set, Tan continues to amplify each dreadful detail of her family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This includes the actual meal, that of which appeared to be
Meanwhile, Carol’s costume and performance paint her as simultaneously both more and less of an outsider than Therese. Establishing shots show throngs of holiday shoppers in dark wool coats and neutral colored suits, bustling around completing their holiday shopping. Then, the audience meets Carol. In an extravagant, caramel colored fur coat, a scarlet hat and scarf, and with fiery red lips and nails, Carol stands out from the crowd. Her slow, deliberate gaze contrasts the hustle of the shoppers. She is alone, while most other are accompanied by spouses, friends, or children, and she exudes an air of mystery and angst. Carol’s costume and mannerisms in this case align with Doty’s claim, however the classically feminine and glamorous way in which Carol presents herself complicates the connection. While Carol is in fact depicted as being an other, she aligns better with normative standards of female beauty and sexuality than all others in this scene. This notion is present throughout the film as Carol embodies the pinnacle of what women in this time aspired to exude; she’s elegant and witty, intelligent and compelling, beautiful and wealthy, and a wife and mother. However,
old sinner! Hard as a steel and sharp as a flint, from which no steel
Hope is essential; it is what drives the soul to persevere through the inevitable struggles in life until it reaches its dream. In the drama, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, hope plays a major role in the lives of the Youngers, a poor African American family living in Southside of Chicago during the 1950’s. Throughout the play, Lorraine Hansberry uses light to symbolize the Younger family’s ever changing hope of achieving their dreams. Symbolism underlines a subtle point, foreshadows, and adds meaning to the text. The use of symbols gives an idea or object, in this case the light, a representation beyond it’s literal meaning. In the drama, A Raisin In The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the light is a symbol that changes throughout
The couple's outfits are thick and even have fur, although the painting suggests that it is spring or summer, due to the amount of sunlight entering from the window and the fresh oranges (most oranges are harvest during the spring). The furniture and the drapery is impressive, and the oranges themselves are rare and are therefore a symbol of wealth. The painting also illustrates the relationship between the two subjects through various objects. The painting suggests that the subjects are married. There is a dog in between the couple, which represents loyalty. Both characters have rings on their ring fingers, which suggests that they are both married. Also, the painting shows that both characters have removed their shoes, which implies that they are standing on holy ground, such as Moses was when speaking to god through a burning bush in the bible. The reason they are on holy ground is because a holy ceremony has taken place, that is, a wedding. Notice the characters' body language is composed of the dominant husband and the submissive wife. There is also various references to the newlywed couple's intentions of starting a family. Not only does the wife's attire exaggerate her belly, making her seem as if she were pregnant, but behind here there is a statue of Saint Margaret, the saint of childbirth and fertility. When the individual objects of this painting are viewed as a whole, the message becomes clear. Jan van