The Rocket Man Literary Devices

In “The Rocket Man” by Ray Bradbury, the main character Doug's father, clearly drove his rocket ship into the sun intentionally, because throughout the story he talked a lot about death and his unhappy lifestyle. The night before Doug's father left for what he said would be his “last” trip to space, he and Doug had a deep one on one conversation about being a rocket man, and the dangers of space. Doug asked if it was easy to die in space and instantly his dad listed many ways to die in space, “The meteors hit you. The air goes out of your rocket. Or comments take you with them. Concussion. Strangulation. Explosion. Centrifugal force. Too much acceleration. Too little. The heat, the cold, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the astroids,

As society progresses authors such as Charles Waugh creates short stories about the advanced future. In the short story, “Long Way Home” a young boy, Jack, decides to go on a mission into space, because when he was younger his parents bought

Conflict is a key aspect in all pieces of literature. Without it, works would be very boring, predictable and would not be able to draw the reader in. There is usually one main conflict the protagonist faces, whether it is against an evil villain or the evil inside their own self. In the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the courageous protagonist, Lily, struggles with an internal conflict with the guilt of possibly being the cause of her mother's death and the absence of knowledge about her mother. Following a clue left by her mother, Lily runs away from home and meets the "calendar sisters" in Tiburon, SC. There, she is finally able to discover who her mother actually was and learn the truth behind her mother's death: that Lily had accidentally shot her. Upon uncovering the whole truth, Lily is finally able to begin to forgive herself and shrug off the heavy guilt that had burdened her for years. Through Lily's struggle to figure out who her mother was and accept what happened to her, Sue Monk Kidd wishes to communicate that even if something

the inner conflict of Connie, the protagonist of the book. The source of that struggle is her

Bradbury’s style throughout his story aids in portraying his theme of technology’s harmful effects. Irony is a one of the stylistic devices that he uses. When a person thinks of a nursery, he pictures a safe, happy place where children can play with their siblings and parents. In this story however, Bradbury keeps the

One thing that remains constant in the ever-changing world of Cormac McCarthy’s dystopian novel The Road is the relationship between The Man and The Boy. The father and son’s bond is extremely close, especially due to the isolation they face on The Road, but it is filled with love and endearment, like someone would expect any relationship between a father and son to be.

For example, he writes a very detailed part in which the “[dad] walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe”. (McCarthy 66) This elaborates on the idea of the dismal situation humans are in. Despite this, the dad and son continue to withstand obstacles and reach their goal to go South. The secret symbolism of fire is portrayed again because it moves them figuratively. McCarthy writes specific word phrases such as “Every day is a lie. But you are dying. That is not a lie”. (McCarthy 123) The quote reveals the truth of the world which inevitably ends in death. Even though death will take place in their life, the dad and son can still push their hardest to even survive one day at a time. The dad continuously reminds the boy to “carry the fire” which contributes to last part of the book. The boy ultimately chooses to follow the family by asking if they are “carrying the fire” (McCarthy 149) and thus the influence of the symbolic fire is

The Illustrated Man, a science fiction novel written by Ray Bradbury, reaches the first publication in 1951, post World War II society and a current Cold War environment. The time period and characteristics of World War II, the Cold War, and foreshadowing of the Civil Rights Movement serve as important influences for Bradbury’s subject and themes of the novel. Recurring ideas of censorship, technology, justice, and largely death, exist in events and fears of the day. Leading all themes to tie into an allegorical warning Bradbury directs to an audience of American youth, fearful of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, artist in Hollywood during the age of McCarthyism, or anyone fearful of a relevant issue, such as, the possibilities of

As living and breathing human beings people are bound to experience some type of conflict. Conflict can be present within a person, between two people, between a person and forces of nature, and even between a person and their society. Conflict is defined as the struggle that shapes the plot in a story (Clugston, 2014, ch.4sect.1 para.4). When reading a piece of literature, especially a short story, one should pay special attention to the central conflict because it is the key element of the story (Clugston, 2014). This essay will analyze “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Sweat” by

185). The conflict arises when his persona undergoes a change and loses its strength since he becomes an immigrant in a country that does not value him as much as he expects. At this point, other three parts of his psyche starts to reveal his unrevealed emotions such as fear, violence and depression.

Every author creates some type of conflict to have the reader sitting on the edge of their seats whether the conflict be man versus man, man versus self, or man versus nature. The novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy wrote a story about both a man and a boy who have particularly conflicting characteristics when it comes to decision making. The boy in the story is very optimistic about everything and the man can be pessimistic when either deciding on what to do or when thinking about life or the future. In addition, both characters have different outlooks and personalities that can sometimes collide.

Ray Bradbury's use of paradoxical statements is to promote the true meaning of this novel, which is knowledge versus ignorance. Knowledge is key in life, yet the society in this novel takes it for granted. They rather sit in front of a television screen and watch fictional characters all day long than gain the one thing the world can give which is free, and that

Each story ever written has many literary elements within it. Elements such as setting, characters, resolution, plot, and lastly conflict, Conflict is a major part of any story. The plot is centered around any sort of conflict in a short story or novel. It creates challenges with the story and within the characters. It keeps a reader entertained enough to see if the characters overcome those hardships. James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues”, uses conflict as the main concept of the story, the conflicts and struggles wither make or break the characters in the story.

In order for a child to live in a complete and happy family, the paternal love plays a major role in a child’s life, especially the love of a father which is as much important as a mother’s love. Moreover, a father’s love is one of the greatest influences on the child’s personality development throughout his/her life. A father’s love brings a sense of protection of security in a child. In the novel The Road, Cormac McCarthy present the great example of paternal love. The novel deals with a post-apocalyptic story about an unnamed man and his unnamed child as they move toward the south to find a better place to live after the catastrophic event. The son is the only reason for the father

In the short story, The Rocket Man, an adaptation of The Illustrated Man, the author Ray Bradbury describes the life of an astronaut who is torn between living an ordinary life with his family and traveling through space on a rocket ship. The story, written in 1951, is based around how the father’s space travel affects his son, Doug, and the father’s relationship with his wife. The Rocket Man was written during the modern and contemporary periods of literature, a time when science fiction, new technology, and realism was forthcoming. During the 1950’s, the United States began its space program, and space travel was quickly becoming a reality. The Rocket Man was influenced by this time period in history and literature, and the story describes a futuristic place where technology is highly advanced and humans are capable of fast space travel to different planets throughout our solar system. Within the reading, the author relays themes of displeasure and unhappiness with life and the problems of a dysfunctional family. In developing these themes, Bradbury incorporates literary techniques such as first person point of view, symbolism, and plot elements like conflict and irony. Through these story elements, the author is able to develop the theme and provide the reader better insight into the story meaning and the minds of all the characters.