The two novels “The Remains of the Day” and “Atonement” both illustrate the theme of loss and grief throughout their novel. In my own words the definition of loss is described as losing someone or something, and the definition of grief is described as how someone reacts to a loss. Whether it’s through anger, guilt, sadness, or restraint. In the novels each character expressed their emotions in diverse ways when dealing with loss and grief. In the novel The Remains of the Day Stevens loses his father, Miss Kenton loses her aunt, Lord Darlington loses friends and his godson, Stevens and Miss Kenton loses each other. I will be explaining how the protagonist Stevens dealt with the loss of his father. As well as evaluating the relationship between …show more content…
Whether fulfilled or not. For instance, Stevens and Miss Kenton unsuccessful love story. Equally, Cecilia and Robbie’s tragic love story they had obstacles. I will be addressing two important intimate relationships as I mentioned above. Moreover, Miss Kenton and Stevens, both dealt with the loss of each other by not pursuing a relationship/marriage. Both characters allowed their professionalism to stop them from expressing their true feelings. There have been many encounters throughout the novel with Stevens and Miss Kenton that show that they expressed some emotion towards one another. They both showed a characteristic of being jealous about each other. Later in the novel they meet for the last time and shared their real feelings while they worked for Lord Darlington. In the words of Miss Kenton, “when you think to yourself: 'What a terrible mistake I've made with my life.' And you get to thinking about a different life, a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking about a life I may have had with you, Mr. Stevens. And I suppose that's when I get angry about some trivial little thing and leave” (239). I would consider that quote connecting to the theme of loss. As she “moved on” with her new life and husband, she never really forgot about how her life could have been with Stevens. They both suffer from not pursing …show more content…
It seems as if his dignity gets in the way of things. He doesn’t grieve over life hardships the “normal” way. Cecilia embraces the loss of not being with Robbie to create a stronger relationship between the two. For Briony and the Tallis family, we get to see the views point from Briony on how her sister disowned the family. Both novels cope with some sort of “love lost” although they were both portrayed in similar but separate ways. For instance, Stevens was the Butler and Miss Kenton was the housekeeper. They both choose not to fulfil their love for each other because their profession was more important. Differently, in Atonement Cecilia was the daughter of the of the Tallis family and Robbie was the maid’s son. The two tried to hide their love for each other, but eventually expressed their love for one another. The difference between these two novels are that the characters in The Remains of the Day does not want to deal with loss and grief therefore they try to suppress their feelings. On the other hand, in Atonement the characters learn how to deal with loss and grief. They allow it to help build a stronger relationship, and to make other relationships non-existent all through the eyes of
Grief is a natural response to a major loss, though often deeply painful and can have a negative impact on your life. Any loss can cause varied levels of grief often when someone least expects it however, loss is widely varied and is often only perceived as death. Tugendhat (2005) argued that losses such as infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, adoption and divorce can cause grief in everyday life. Throughout our lives we all face loss in one way or another, whether it is being diagnosed with a terminal illness, loss of independence due to a serious accident or illness, gaining a criminal record (identity loss), losing our job, home or ending a relationship; we all experience loss
Abstractly, it almost seems as though the other characters in the book look down on his for this not because he is not mourning, but rather because he is not mourning in the way they are. This sheds light on the overall theme of the novel, that of people being cast out of society because their views and methods do not line up with the accepted ways of society.
Loss is a phenomenon that is experienced by all. Death is experienced by family members as a unique and elevated form of loss which is modulated by potent stages of grief. Inevitably, everyone will lose someone with whom they had a personal relationship and emotional connection and thus experience an aftermath that can generally be described as grief. Although bereavement, which is defined as a state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one, is a universal experience it varies widely across gender, age, and circumstance (definitions.net, 2015). Indeed the formalities and phases associated with bereavement have been recounted and theorized in literature for years. These philosophies are quite diverse but
In the beginning of the short story, as Brother reflects on Doodle’s life, the author uses personification and foreshadowing to create a mood of remorse. As he gazes out of the window into his backyard, Brother states that “the graveyard flowers were blooming. ...speaking softly the names of our dead” (Hurst 1). The flowers provide flashbacks of the past, and foreshadow a loss of life. The loneliness felt by Brother causes readers to consider how they would feel if their loved one was gone. As Brother observes the seasons, it is noted that “summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born” (Hurst 1). The personifications of the seasons as stages in the cycle of life and death creates an unsure and uncertain mood. The shift between seasons creates an idea of change and uncertainty of events to come. Hurst creates a mood of remorse through
A poem which explores the feeling of loss is ‘Visiting Hour’ by Norman MacCaig. In this powerful and moving poem, the writer uses techniques such as imagery, symbolism and word choice to effectively grip the reader and keeps them with him throughout the poem.
The book, Lament For a Son, written by Nicholas Wolterstorff talks about his pain and grief after losing his 25-year-old son (Joy, 2009). His son died while on a mountain-climbing expedition. Dr. Wolterstorff has several books published during his career as a philosophical theology professor in Yale Divinity. However, he wrote Lament for a Son with a different journal style since it is a personal thing for him. The book is similar to a journal as he narrates the events that happened before and after his son’s death. The emotions expressed in the book are common among people who lose close relatives. What matters is how a person handles the issue. Kubler-Ross invented the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptancethat explain the escalation of grief when stricken by bad news (Axelrod, 2004). The paper looks into the book and its relation to the five stages of grief.
The book A Grief Observed and the movie Shadowlands are very similar in most aspects because the movie is based on the book. However, there are several aspects in which the movie does not capture the book. One obvious difference between the movie and the book is the fact that the movie only portrays Joy as having one son despite the fact that she had two in real life. However, Douglas was the one who wrote the introduction of the book and therefore has a bigger role because his thought process is included in the book compared to the other son. Further, it seems like the movie portrays their marriage as shorter than it actually is. The movie gives the idea that it bas a brief marriage and that they did not love each other till late in the marriage
The grief comes from lost love must be recovered by love. In crow lake, the author Mary Lawson portrays a young successful scholar, 26-year-old Kate Morrison, always is bothered by her anguished past. The innermost struggle not only leads she can’t directly face the problem existing between her and her older brother Matt for years but also becomes an obstacle of the further relationship with Daniel, the men she loves. But all the problems are concealed elaborately before the invitation letter received. While the peaceful life is broken by the invitation coming from Matt’s son, her nephew Simon, Kate suddenly has to face all the problems she doesn’t want to face
He seems to suggest here that grief is but an illusion, because man is incapable of touching the human soul. Emerson continued with, “Grief too will make us idealists. In the death of my son, now more than two years ago, I seem to have lost a beautiful estate, - no more. I cannot get it nearer to me.” Now, Emerson reveals his inspiration for writing Experience. With the death of his son, Emerson had suffered the fourth major loss in his family, which had been long plagued by tuberculosis. His first wife died of the disease and had claimed the lives of his two beloved brothers. Emerson was no stranger to grief, and the more he tried to psychoanalyze it, the emptier he felt. After sustaining so much loss, one must steel oneself from any further blows.
The use of character, style, and point of view that Atwood uses to write this story gives you a real feeling of pity for these characters, only having horrible lows or average highs in their relationships. It appears that there is no great place to be in her story. Reading this story for the first time, the reader could assume Atwood has an obsession with bad relationships, boring average marriages, and death. The key to understanding what the author is trying to convey is realizing how the stories all link together and how they all lack the essence of excitement and desire. The author brings the idea that without focusing on the “how and why” of life and only focusing on the “what, what, what” will leave you with an average
This immediate defense makes it evident that Stevens has something he is trying to hide about his relationship with Miss Kenton. The fact is, Stevens had romantic feelings for Miss Kenton, and still harbors these, which is why he refuses to admit to the fact that she is now married. The way in which Stevens continues to refer to Miss Kenton by her maiden name, overlooking the reality that she is no longer Miss Kenton and is now Mrs Benn, as well as his speedy exculpation of this fact, lends to his habitual repression of emotions and
Grief is keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; and sharp sorrow. Grief is something that can take a massive toll on one’s mental health and actions. It can change a person’s thinking and what they do. In “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, grief is shown in many ways but with each person who is grieving they begin to act differently than they normally would.
This essay explores several models and theories that discuss the complexities of loss and grief. A discussion of the tasks, reactions and understanding of grief through the different stages from infants to the elderly, will also be attempted.
When returning from a date Miss Kenton asks Mr. Stevens, “Are you not in the least interested in what too place tonight between my acquaintance and I?” (218). Mr. Stevens acts as though he is more interested in returning to his work when really he is dying to know. Miss Kenton does all she can to get Stevens to show some sort of emotion, but she always fails. She even tries to anger him by telling him that she and her acquaintance “often pass the time amusing [themselves] with anecdotes about [him]” (219). He just brushes her comments off and goes about his business.
In the poems you have studied a recurring theme is that of ‘loss’. This can take many forms: death; identity; hope or loss of innocence