The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

Mortimer’s goal in writing this book was to present a clear view of what it would mean to live in Medieval England. However, in order to do so, he chooses to create a travel guide because he

"It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being; all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct. A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses. By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves, so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me and troubled me, but hardly had I felt this when, by opening my eyes, as I now suppose, the light

Recollecting empowers the individual to delve deeper into meaningful encounters that assist in developing identity whether it be from a reminisced, imaginative or realistic. Illustrating this analogy is Botton’s AOT through its alteration of the basic novel structure to fully capture landscapes as the product of personal perception, all whilst challenging the reader to reconsider the true sense of these places and their everlasting impact on

With every journey comes a destination which is dependent on the degree of the individual and their will to potentially better themselves. A journey offers travelers the opportunity to extend themselves physically, intellectually and emotionally as they respond to challenges. Ruby Moon by Matt Cameron is a contemporary fractured fairytale in the form of a play that explores the grim, Australian legend of the missing child. This text portrays real issues in an absurd representation which forces the reader on an imaginative journey as well as the characters in an inner journey to establish an identity. Beach Burial by Kenneth Slessor is a distressing elegy about loss of life through war. Slessor’s sophisticated language, allows the responder to empathise and mourn the wastefulness of life in war while also to appreciate the commonality of human existence. This text highlights the concept of journeying of the soul from both the reader and the responder. Through the use of a variety of visual and written techniques, these texts portray the concept of an existential journey, the indefinite search for true self and true personal meaning in life. Deep loss of an individual or one others’ individuality triggers an existential crisis and without journeying imaginatively, the chance to create one’s purpose becomes absent.

Walton expresses his faith in science in his first letter to his sister, “What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?” (Shelley). This is the first instance where light can be seen signifying discovery and knowledge because it demonstrates Walton’s desire to reach the most northern part of the world. Viktor’s pursuit in discovering the secret of life is quite similar to Walton’s quest and both

The novel Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson has many themes that present themselves throughout the book. One such recurring theme is a search for truth. The characters in the book do not fully realize that they are searching for truth, but they do feel a vague, "indescribable thing" that pushes and prods their minds to actualize a higher plane of thought. This search for a higher plane by the characters of Winesburg nearly parallels another literary work of ancient Greek origin- Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," which is a portion of his famous writing "The Republic." I contend that the town of Winesburg is the equivalent of the Cave in Plato's

“The image suggests a ruin in a classical landscape painting, a symbol of a broken-down system of belief” (Bloom 61). The “hollow men” do not have the faith to be judged and move on to “death’s other Kingdom.”

Not going to lie, but I put an immense amount of trust into other’s experiences and allow them to dictate my own. I have travelled to different places for the sole purpose of “reliving” another person’s experience only to be disappointed when I get there. The ideas expressed in Walker Percy’s, “The Loss of the Creature” parallel my adventures towards misfortune. As Percy Walker writes in his essay, “The thing as it is, has been appropriated by the symbolic complex which has already been formed in the sightseer’s mind” (Percy 472). Percy argues that having preconceived notions about places or ideas, creates a “symbolic complex” in our minds. I have always been told that Disney World Florida is “The most magical place in the world.” I

“Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.” Thomas Hardy might have been comparing Christopher Columbus and Charles Lindbergh’s adventures when he said this. The 400 hundred years between their journeys may hint at the similarities and differences of what they hoped to achieve, challenges they faced, and the skills it took to reach their destination.

“This accounts for the ages we seem to have lived since the twelfth of April last, and , to state it more generally, for that ex post facto operation of a great calamity, or any very powerful impression, which we once illustrated by the image of a stain spreading backwards from the leaf of life open before us through all those which we have already turned “ (Holmes 347).

Saturn is one of the most interesting planets in the solar system. It is the sixth planet in the solar system, and is most famous for its stunning array of rings. It is a very easy planet to pick out in the sky because it is one of the brightest lights in the shy. It also has a very faint greenish color that makes it stand out from the rest of the objects in the sky (“Astronomy for Kids”). Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter being the only planet that is bigger. It also has at least eighteen moons, more than any other planet in the solar system. There have been three voyages to this extraordinary planet, and one is still in process today. The Pioneer II traveled to Saturn in September of 1979,

They are similarities. All have dates and facts. For example in “The Mysteries of Saturn” it states, “in July 2004 the Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn’s orbit and began to collect valuable information” In “Cassini Mission” it states, “in December 2004 a probe was dropped into Titan’s atmosphere. Then the leader began gathering data.” According to the illustration the first picture of Earth, Mars, Venus, and Saturn together was taken by the Cassini in 2013. All of this information was gathered using improved technology.

In the medieval period, the Old English elegies use unnamed speakers that offer similar descriptions of devastated landscapes and immense personal hardships. However, where the unknown authors’ of the Old English elegies often present smilier descriptions and themes across their respective works, they do not present similar opinions on larger concerns like religion and the role of community. This is a concept that is interwoven into the framework of the Old English elegies “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”. By comparing and contrasting these two works, this paper will argue that the unnamed narrators’ vivid descriptions of landscapes, circumstances surrounding their exile, and climactic perspectives on the earthly community function solely

W.G. Sebald’s novel The Rings of Saturn explores the relationship between toleration and persecution through a first person narrative. The novel is preoccupied with loss and the ways we have tried to come to terms with mortality. It is a meditation on the destructive nature of history, the human lives affected, and the restorative power of art. However, his work is not simply a record of these human-induced catastrophes, but also attempts to fashion new representational tools for the purpose of acknowledging and coming to terms with the realities of modern human history. Sebald’s critcism tends to focus on the biographical and psychological backgrounds of the writers he mentions. He draws heavily on the canon of twentieth-century Marxist thought, including works from Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. His complex thesis draws specifically on their work The Dialectic of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that spread through Europe during the eighteenth century, which involved a radical change in the way that philosophers and others understood the role of reason. It valued independent thought and promoted reason to a higher status and for some came to replace faith. Intrinsic in Sebald’s work is the idea that the Enlightenment project was programmed by violent distrusts of the non-identical and a coercive desire to eliminate otherness. Specifically, Sebald draws on Horkheimer and Adorno’s critique of civilization articulated in The Dialectic of the

The passage of time is intrinsically connected to every aspect of life, as it is the construct through which we understand human experiences and the framework through which we comprehend our existence. The essence and effects of temporality reverberate through narratives; acting as a catalyst for action, or becoming an impediment to the future. Through the response that characters in The Wanderer and The Tempest have towards the transience of time, it becomes clear how these effects echo throughout the narrative, prompting these events into movement, and how they seep throughout every aspect of these texts.