The Objects Short Story

Spiegelman has presented his father’s memoirs in a creative way by portraying racial groups as animals and by making the story into a graphic novel. By presenting it in comic form, Art Spiegelman is able to better capture the emotions of those in the graphic novel. Not a dedication in the conventional sense, the book eternalizes the memoirs of Vladek and those around him.

Animals by Simon Rich is an outstanding short story which takes a unique perspective on the everyday life in a classroom. The story is written from the point of view of a hamster who spends his tortured life entrapped in a cage. From the first point in this story, it is clear that the purpose of the writing is not to understand the hamster, but rather to analyze the different actions of the people, and to discover that how they act towards the hamsters reflects on their character. It is curious to view the everyday interactions of people through a different set of eyes, that is done by humanizing the narrator’s perspective. Based on the actions of the many people and the treatment of the class pet, the author suggests that human nature is very much a product of the financial circumstances a person is subjected to.

In “Antojos”, Alvarez shows a strong sense of characterization to portray real life experiences. For instance, “‘What exactly does it mean, antojo?’ Yolanda asked. Her aunts were proven right: After so many years away, their niece was losing her Spanish” (259). In this short story, the main character, Yolanda, doesn’t feel that she fits into the place she grew up in. Her aunts see that she is losing her native tongue. This shows that Yolanda is distanced from her heritage, and has a sense of lost identity. Her experience of feeling set apart from her native life incorporates the emotions of illegal immigrants that have had to adapt to a different life setting. Alvarez herself writes, “This was what she had been missing without really knowing that she was missing it all these years. She had never felt at home in the States, never…” (262). Yolanda misses her homeland where she was surrounded by her culture, and her native language. She feels like she has lost that part of her identity -where she originated from. This incorporates the emotions of how all illegal immigrants must feel. There is a sense of relation between the experiences of the strong character, Yolanda, and illegal immigrants who have felt a similar

In the story, “On the subway”, the author Sharon Olds uses literary devices to help the reader get a clearer understanding of the theme of the passage. This devices are seen on the style and grammar being used in the story such as symbolism and imagery which illustrate the point of view the protagonist has towards society.

Sonia Nazario’s book Enrique’s Journey incredibly reveals and reflects the brutal reality on the topic of Central American Immigration. Through the perspective of Enrique, a young boy searching for his mother, the book unravels the “account of an epic journey,” and through the journey, “presents the positive and negative effects of immigration, illuminating the problem complexity.” Along his journey, Enrique encountered both of beasts and gifts, received both mercy and hatred. Similarly complex is impact of immigration. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there were more than 700,000 illegal immigrants from Central America into United States each year, comparing to 1,000,000 spots the government legally grants. Such a terrifying number has caused panic and chaos, socially and economically, but also consists of some unnegligible substance. Only by deducting the rate of immigration will people be able to reach a comprehensive well-off society.

The one thing that stood out to me in this article was when Javier stated, “He worn a walkie-talkie then in his role as a manager, and it was his job to call everyone back to the line at the end of each break. He had never felt more a part of America than he did in these moments, hearing his own voice over the factory loudspeakers, issuing orders in English.” The reason why this statement stood out to me is because for Javier it seems like his past life was that, and for once, he tasted his piece of the American pie. However, the one thing that made Javier dream false was his status in the United States. Therefore, some of the pros and cons of immigration reform in the U.S... In the case of Javier,

A common theme in this short reading is the unsettleling feeling that Jose Antonio has during his life in the U.S. regardless of the age or political environment he is in. At some point he gets recognition from the renowned Washington Post, giving him an offer of two years of paid internship once he graduated. He did just this and even in a dream work scenario he still felt so uncomfortable with his position as a “citizen” that he told his new peer and part of management, Peter. Jose Antonio goes out to say that his “anxiety was nearly paralyzin” and he felt as though he had an “illegal immigrant” tattoo on his forehead.

In the story Cristino the farmer is sick so Don Pio the master has decided even though Cristino is one of his very best laborer he has to go before he gets worse or gets the other workers sick. Since Don Pio appreciated his hard labor he gave him half-a-dollar and sent him on his way, but Cristino asked to stay one more day because he could not make it to town in his condition and Don Pio agrees he should stay but to leave early in the morning. When Cristino stands up he sees from far a cow and notices it must of given labor, suddenly Don Pio comands him to go get the cow for him to see, but Cristino could barely walk or see from the fever, when Don Pio saw that he hestitated he got mad but after asking him a couple of times Cristino goes and gets the cow. Don Pio stays looking at him when Herminia a neighbor approaches and asks him what had happen. Don Pio says the story and she say that he is to nice with his workers, when they all turn out to be ungrateful. In another Story En un Bohio, Bosch describes the living standards of a poor person in his country. It reveals the brutalizing effects of poeverty on human beings. Bosch gives a good description of how the typical Campesino in his country lives. He reminds us that we do not know everything millions of people out there are working and suffering 30 times more than us.

Illegal immigrants at work were shown in The Harvest, but the actual act of illegal immigration is explored in Wet Back. Some may believe that this processes serves no other function other than the passage of people into the United States. When looked at closer from a functionalists perspective, there are many functions revealed to this process. For the people of central America who choose to go out and search for a better life by immigrating to America, this process is a tough one to begin. The path to America is riddled with people who are paid to hunt them down and also who volunteer their time to hunt the immigrants. One function already listed that this process creates is the need for security on the border, which ultimately provides

The sense of displacement both physically, and psychologically, indicates that the unnamed narrator fails to settle his life in Montreal. The physical geographical isolation in Montreal distinguished the unnamed narrator from those whom are seemed as true ‘Canadians’. Contrast to the small, dirty, freezing apartment he lives, the extravagantly built houses which he breaks into strengthens the unreachable social gap between the unnamed narrator and Quebecois citizens. Furthermore, the unnamed narrator’s fixation on the “underground”, as Domenic A. Beneventi asserts, is a “symbolic” spatial embodiment of “the marginalized” (280). The unnamed narrator often transforms into a cockroach and crawls into the underground, which represents his physical

The short story “The Rats in the Wall” by Lovecraft, told in first person narrative, gives the reader a strong sense of his feelings and emotions. The narrator is the last of his family lineage, having lost his father, wife, and son. This loss plays and influences the horrifying events throughout the story.

In conclusion, Franz Kafka’s story was about a man who turns into a cockroach for the remainder of his life and is very mistreated by his family. Like a cockroach, the common worker is one in a million, which drives us further into degrading our self-worth and assuming the worst of others. This is the modern view that readers can visualize while reading this story.

Camilla, Arturo, Sammy, Vera and Hellfrick are all non-entities in the bustle of L.A. culture, but all are profoundly human in their suffering, confusion, and vices. All are battling a poor sense of self-worth and struggling to survive in an indifferent world. Arturo Bandini takes us through this story in intimate first-person, exposing us to his mood swings, his astute observations and his growth as an author and a man.

Death of a Salesman and Metamorphosis are prime examples of two pieces of literature that can be used as a voice for the oppressed. This is evident in how Miller and Kafka both express their observations of their own population’s oppression, either literally or conceptually. This is shown through their political philosophy visible in their writing, their experiences with extreme levels of capitalism, and their reluctance to follow an institution. These two works show how an author’s personal context can be directly correlated to the struggles in which the characters face as well.

Obsession is defined as “the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea or desire.” The desire for nonconformity is a praiseworthy attribute but when taken too far, it can be disadvantageous to one’s goals and ambitions. While it is essential for one to seek transient passions, it is also crucial to mollify this pursuit, with concern with actual use. The threats of overindulgence are notably apparent in the case of John, the protagonist of Virginia Woolf’s “Solid Objects”, whose passion for knickknacks turns into a subtle obsession. Woolf expresses her strong criticism of John by intensifying his wasted potentiality and his fixation with fleeting dreams while she commends Charles for his dependability and practicality.