The Symbolism Of Hair In John Updike's Alligators

In the novel Charlie takes each person’s words into his heart and ponders about them thoughtfully. Nostrils Charlie’s best friend sticks by his side and is loyal at all times. While Nostrils is doing a job with Charlie, Nostrils gets beat up by Barlow and Nostrils tells Charlie to run which lands Nostrils in hospital. This teaches Charlie to be loyal and listen to what his friends tell him to do. Another incident is where Daisy Molony who is a prostitute tells Charlie to ‘use that money fer somethin’ good’, the filthy money that Squizzy Taylor gave to Charlie, for doing jobs for him. Mr Redmond is another strong character in Charlie’s life, teaching Charlie boxing, giving Charlie a gramophone and training him to run in the Ballarat mile. This shows Charlie, through an old man’s eyes, love and compassion. Mr Redmond dedicated a lot of time and energy for Charlie. All these people show Charlie a fragment of properties and qualities. From himself and spending time with his friends he learns how to nurture the feeling s of others but not the feelings one

“Long Beautiful Hair,” wrote by Ann Hood, is a piece most would assume just to be a narrative of how the author goes through different hair phases in her lifetime. However, that is only the superficial meaning; Hood’s piece is metaphorically set up for a greater purpose. If analyzed correctly, her piece is a complex explanation of a life lesson that people often struggle with: figuring out who they are created to be. In order for her to convey the message fully to the audience, she tells her story in a time progressing sequence while also using rhetorical strategies such as pathos and a metaphor.

The character of Charlie (being the protagonist) is who the readers are directly linked too, as we are taken on a journey with him through his actions, feeling, ideas and perspectives. His journey also includes his maturation/ coming of age as he does not escape from his issues and problems however he faces them head on. “I have no idea where we’re going. The further we move, the keener my apprehension grows. Still, there is something emboldening about being awake when the rest of the world is sleeping. Like I know something they don’t.” The passage has shifted from the description of late-night Corrigan to the thoughts/feeling of Charlie. He has been called to a mysterious place by a peculiar figure called Jasper Jones. As they travel further and further away from Corrigan the more Charlie’s worry and doubt comes to him about where they are travelling, what they might be doing and why did Japer choose him over everyone else? The readers are unaware of why Charlie is following Jasper blindly and so is Charlie. This is a stage in the narrative where Charlie’s progression as a character starts. The mood is created here from the events that are happening and from the readers attachment to the protagonist. The thoughts of the characters are reflected as the feeling from the readers. In some ways we already understand what might happen based on different reading from

When one feels protects in life, one cannot experience the benefits within life. For instance, Olive and Sarah Ann’s father holds both of them back from the opportunities in life. This is illustrated when Olive’s future husband, Mr. Dixon asks her, “Why do you wear your hair like that? You ought to shake it loose around your shoulders”. He surprises why Olive all the time makes braids in her hair instead of letting it loose or free. Mr. Dixon attempts to figure out why Olive allows her father to hold her back, much like the braids in her hair. This statement is motive because Olive starts to question her father about  confinement at home due to a man. Mr. Dixon Uses her hair as a metaphor, by his questioning, that without her job at the post office, she should give a look more in her life. By making braids and keeping her hair open, author tries to illustrate that she is a bit confused whether or not to stay at home which is like a prison by conforming her father’s rules or just get away from here and make her

Taming the natural state of black hair is the key idea in both essays. Parker associates taming her daughters’ hair with the amount of love she has for them, and that of her mother had for her. She reflect to when she rushed through her daughters head pulling apart kinks and coils, this saddens her. Now she can cherish the time she has with them more because she understands how precious it is. Each time she does her daughters’ hair there is a bonding experience

The writer starts off the essay in the kitchen of his own house with his mother straightening her friends’ hair with what they call a “hot comb” (323). The writer starts in the kitchen to introduce another meaning for

Throughout his diary entries, Charlie demonstrates an emotional attachment to his Aunt Helen. Although Charlie isn’t aware, Aunt Helen is in his subconscious: the part of the mind that an individual is not aware of but influences one's actions. According to Charlie, his aunt is his favorite person in the world. Aunt Helen lived under her sister's roof for her last few years of life after living a dreadful life. This woman was formerly molested by a family friend and when she revealed this information to her parents, the suffering didn’t stop because they saw it as a false claim and continued inviting this man over. This traumatic event led to an overuse of drugs, the frequent reentry to a hospital, a jobless life, and lastly the repeated sexual abuse of a young version of Charlie. Charlie develops a form of

She has improved throughout the book with this conflict, even when she had a downfall towards the end. Lia going through this deadly conflict that has damaged her past, has led her to herself discovery of trying to change and grow for the better. Chbosky similarly uses conflict as a way to set up this idea of self-improvement and discovery through a catastrophe from the past. However, this conflict is person vs person(Charlie vs Aunt Helen). This is also is a flashback that has the main conflict, which unravels after Charlie is repressed. After Charlie’s memories were triggered by his interactions with Sam, he writes, “When I fell asleep, I had this dream. My brother and my sister and I were watching television with my Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was thick. And she was doing what Sam was doing”(Chbosky, 209). The trigger to his memories was when Sam “moved her hands under my pants”(Chbosky, 202), as Charlie explained it. This conflict between him and his aunt is in the past, yet it has resurfaced

Charlie’s misconstrued idea of marriage leads him to never fully appreciate Christine or her culture, leading to the eventual termination of their marriage. He views the uniqueness of Native American culture as interesting and entertaining, failing to understand the people or culture. This idea is evident at an event when Christine informs partygoers of her parent’s native marriage. This announcement leads to shock and outrage. The guests are unable to respect the difference in customs and try to understand the beauty behind the Native American tradition. Charlie, though, becomes extremely angry by this with his face described as “white as ashes, with something in his eyes she had never seen before.” Later Charlie reveals the tremendous embarrassment her family’s tradition has caused him. “How could you do it, how could you do it, Christine, without shame either for yourself or for me, let alone your parents?” Charlie is unable to comprehend how her cultures traditions are not something in which she takes embarrassment, but pride. Again, instead of appreciating the beauty of her culture’s traditions and thereby coming to further appreciate his wife, Charlie cannot accept the differences in their cultures. This idea was the catalyst for the collapse of their marriage. After experiencing Charlie’s rage,

When I once decided to take out my protective style and wear my hair in its natural state, I received several negative remarks. As a young black female I was bothered and wondered why. I wondered why I was receiving so many negative remarks especially from my fellow Black women. An individual went as far to tell me “your hair looks nice but do not wear that to a job interview”. Hair and the styling of it has been a staple of the Black community for centuries. In African American culture, an individual’s hair spoke volumes about that person. By looking at a person’s hair, one could tell where that person was from, what tribe he or she was a member of and even the status within that tribe. As time progressed the influence and importance of hair

The essay Hair written by Maria Alderich, is an analysis of women during the 1950’s need to conform, rebel, or fit in to societies social standards and the inner conflict it caused in women’s identity. The essay is Alderich’s firsthand account of the females in her immediate family and how they use their hair styles to define themselves and represent their self-identity.

It is not just Young Charlie living in a dream, for while Old Charlie is accusing Young Charlie of this, he himself presides in a state of illusions. He just sees things from the opposite angle; for him, “good” is a mask for evil and reality lies in a hellish place, almost the exact binary opposition to Young Charlie’s small town world. In fact, the whole family is separately locked in their own dream world; this is apparent when Charlie comes to town and things are obviously amiss. There are undeniable clues that Charlie is hiding something that the family remains oblivious to. The fact that Charlie shows up, out of the blue at the same time the authorities are searching for a widow murderer does not seem strange to them. Maybe the connection gets lost, but surely they must wonder about the amount of money that Old Charlie carries; the father who is a banker and spends his free time solving mysteries does not ask any questions. Then there is the moment at the dinner table when Charlie goes off in a fit of madness and pretty much confesses to the crime and all his sister says is that he should refrain from saying such things like that at the ladies conference. The child Anne has some intuition, but she spends the majority of time hiding in fictional stories. This dream like state definitely disconnects the family members from the world and

While Charlie struggled to do so, he didn’t have near as much difficulty as Blanche did when it came to other people having to accept their pasts as a part of them as well. They were both able to find ways to cope with the tragedy and loss that they had experienced, although their means to coping may have been unhealthy or hurtful in the long run. These methods that they used to cope, and the strength that they kept because of them, helped to restore some sense of hope for the both of them, and made their struggle to survive a little easier. The strength and hope that they both had through the difficult times in their lives helped them to feel like they had some control over their lives, and like they could look forward to a better future despite their pasts. This hope for the future shows how complex the characters Charlie and Blanche are, because their stories are not simple. They have been through a lot, and despite all of their heartache, loss, and feeling like they had hit rock bottom, they were able to rise above their pasts and stay strong throughout the toughest parts of their lives. These characters set an example that everyone should be able to follow. The hardest of days, and the most difficult of problems that one might face, do not define the rest of their life. How it is dealt with, and the strength that derives from one’s

Historically, the pinnacle of beauty was a woman’s hair. In cultures all around the world, hair was considered to be the keeper of the soul and an important symbol of womanhood and virginal state.

Charlie and his wife lived in Paris during the twenties, and just as any other night they were out drinking and having fun. They get into a fight witch results in his wife, Helen, kissing another man. Charlie storms home, and an hour later when Helen has stumbled herself home, Charlie locks her out of their apartment and she dies soon after. Charlie has a breakdown and is institutionalized right before he looses all his money in the stock market crash of 1929. As the story opens three years later Charlie is back in Paris, sober, determined to get custody over his daughter, Honoria, who lives with Helens sister, Marion.