Walker and Foer present grief is a normal, natural and inevitable response to loss and can affect thoughts, feelings, behaviours, beliefs and relationships with others. Grief is also, what unites us as humanity, giving us reason to reach out of ourselves and help others find their own peace. The theme of grief can be seen throughout the texts, The Colour Purple by Alice Walker and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. A variety of literary devices to explore the confusion of grief, the emphasis of grief, the characters’ inability to handle grief and the character’s interpretation of their own grief. Foer and Walker both offer the reader a chance to navigate the complexities of the characters’ grief through a variety of …show more content…
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close employs an array of tones, as Foer alternates between dual narrators. Oskar’s inquisitive, intellectual, naïve characterisation contributes to the prevailing grieving tone. This is specifically evidenced through Foer’s diction, hyperbole, and presentation of Oskar’s actions. Contrarily, the grandfather’s tone is distinctly remorseful, to justify his prior actions. Similarly, the grandmother’s tone is explanative and emotional. Each varying tone illustrates the notion that there is not distinctly effectively way to handle grief. The tone of the book is ultimately cathartic. Contrarily, Walker’s confessional, and uninhibited tone is effectively shown through Celie’s private letters to God. Walker uses the novel’s letter-writing form to emphasize the grief that controls her characters. Celie writes letters to God, and Nettie writes letters to Celie. This evidences the strength these sister’s gain through letter writing, however their recovery is initiated only by their responses. Letter writing hence enables self-expression and confession, although requires a willing audience. Celie’s first stage of grief is depicted through directing her feelings of sadness on herself and blaming herself based on her insecurities about her looks. Throughout the novel, the appearance of brighter colours indicates the liberation various characters experience. Walker uses colour to symbolise renewals and rebirths. When Kate takes Celie shopping for a new dress, the only colour options are dreary ones: brown, maroon, and dark blue; symbolising her deep stage of grieving. Later, Celie and Sofia use bright yellow fabric from Shug’s dress to make a quilt showing how Celie has coped with her grief. When Celie describes her religious awakening, she marvels how she never noticed the wonders that God has made, such as “the colour
Gail Cadwell once said “I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures” In Richard Wagamese’s novel, Ragged Company, the theme of loss is developed through the main characters’ physical strength to face the challenges of life with without a sense of fear regardless of the risk of disappointment, their emotional willpower to overcome adversity and their influential beliefs that allow them to endure hardships. The physical death of loved ones affect the five best friends’ ability to comprehend their losses. The emotional tragedies that each character develops have an expressive impact these characters’ perception of the world around them. The loss of spiritually influences how each individual deals with their own hardships and struggles. As a direct result of loss, the five main characters are forced to cope with their misfortunes and survive in modern day society.
Life is a rollercoaster filled with ups and downs. Left turns, right turns, and sometimes completely upside down loop de loops. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a story about a colored woman named Celie who writes letters to God while living through extreme oppression and abuse. Celie eventually overcomes her oppressors by finding her purpose in life through friendship, love, hope, and change in faith. Discovering hope, love, and faith leads to a fulfilling life through difficult times.
In “Whoever We Are, Loss Finds us and Defines Us”, by Anna Quindlen, she brings forth the discussion grief's grip on the lives of the living. Wounds of death can heal with the passing of time, but in this instance, the hurt lives on. Published in New York, New York on June 5, 1994, this is one of many Quindlen published in the New York Times, centered on death's aftermath. This article, written in response to the death of Quindlen’s sister-in-law, and is focused on an audience who has, currently is, or will experience death. Quindlen-a columnist for the New York Times and Newsweek, Pulitzer Prize winner and author-has written six bestselling novels (Every Last One, Rise and Shine, Object Lessons, One True Thing, and Black and Blue) and has
Everyone goes through a grieving stage in their lives. Lose of a loved one like a mother or just personal problems can cause a person to be upset and grieving. In the novel Thunderwith by Libby Hathorn, the main character Lara gives an example of the stages of grieving. And how she learnt to overcome her mother's death.
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with
"Emotions are like waves. You cannot stop them from coming but you can decide which ones to surf". As described in this quote, we cannot delete our emotions but if we learn to surf the waves of our emotions and manage our thoughts and feel our feelings, we will be able to deal better with the difficult situations in life. Grief is the conflicting and strong emotion caused by the end of or change in a familiar pattern of behaviour. Each individual deals with grief in very different ways. In Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones" and William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", the main theme and emotion portrayed throughout the two works is grief with the intent of revenge. In Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones", the Salmon family find it difficult to grieve
Everyone experiences loss at some point, and in Truly, Madly, Deeply and “Moonlight Shadows”, both characters cope with their grieving similarly despite living on opposite sides of the Earth. These similarities show that although every person has their own personal way of grieving, the processes between everyone are very similar. Truly, Madly, Deeply, directed by Anthony Minghella captures the grieving of a woman who recently lost her boyfriend due to an unexpected throat disease that killed him quickly. On the other hand, “Moonlight Shadow”, authored by Banana Yoshimoto, follows a young woman who loses her boyfriend due to a car crash. The characters in Truly, Madly, Deeply and “Moonlight Shadow” cope with their losses through depression,
Death in any person’s life is tragic, whether sudden or unexpected. Everyone experiences it at least once throughout a lifetime. In the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, the reader meets several characters that lose people very close to them. Each person has a certain way of dealing with the death, but overall his or her grief is out of love. These two emotions are triggered by one another. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close displays few characters that show any sign of moving on with their lives. Grief takes over and seems to stay forever. Characters such as Oskar, Grandfather, Mr. Black on the floor above, and Ms. Black in the Empire State Building experience grief
According to Harold Bloom, “For Celie, the practice of addressing God simply reaffirms her solitude; she is essentially writing to herself” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88). This submissive practice nonetheless carries over onto her daily life, and ensues until her relationship with Shug Avery strengthens. After Celie begins to experience a spiritual, emotional, and sexual awakening as a result of this bond, her letters reflect her newfound emotional capacity. Bloom enforces this ideal, claiming, “Shug is the route through which Nettie's letters are restored” (Bloom, and Williams 77-88). With the figurative resurrection of her sister through Shug’s support, Celie’s power of voice grows. She begins to think for herself and express her thoughts more vividly, claiming, "My life stop when I left home, I think. But then I think again. It stop with Mr._______ maybe, but start up again with Shug" (Walker 85). The audience, who was Celie’s only recluse for thought, views her becoming more verbal and opinionated in reality as well; for instance, during her final standoff with Mr._______, she exclaims, "You a lowdown dog is what's wrong, I say. It's time to leave you and enter into Creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need” (Walker 207). Celie, therefore, has discovered the act of standing up for herself as a person. Nettie’s letters possess a distinct voice as well, and the discovery and instigation of communication between the two sisters liberates the voice which
Is there a catharsis in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close? If so, when does it happen for Oskar, and if applicable for the reader? Discuss. To discuss whether there are catharsises and if so where, it is important to have a clear definition of ‘catharsis’, so there can be no confusion. According to ‘Oxford’s: Literature Criticism and Style’ a catharsis is: “The purging of emotions which takes place at the end of a tragedy.” A good catharsis closes a story and does not leave the audience, or reader with questions. According to the Oxford definition of a catharsis, it is important to determine whether Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a tragedy, but for this essay, the focus will
Many people define their lives by the relationships within their family. They are someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, or someone’s mother or father. The loss of a family member, especially due to death, creates a radical readjustment to people’s day to day lives and how they see and feel about themselves. Sometimes the process of grief can last over several years and how it is mentally processed and dealt with is different for everyone. “Mud” by Geoffrey Forsyth, shows an insightful view of a grieving man who had already lost his father and grandmother and is now just coming to terms with the loss of his wife two years prior. The entire story is written in first person point of view which allows for the reader to fully engage themselves in the grief and strife of the narrator’s life. Geoffrey’s story “Mud” begins in the home of the narrator where he encounters these dead family members and has to decide if he is ready to move on from his grief and say goodbye or stay behind and be consumed by it.
<br>In the preface to the Colour Purple' Walker identifies her religious development as the inspiration for her novel and labels religion and spirituality as the principle themes in the book. There are a number of principle characters who complete this journey however in many instances the religious element of the novel is overshadowed by other prominent themes such as personal development, female relationships and racial issues. These must be taken into consideration when assessing Walker's success in delivering her
The death of a loved one can result in a trauma where the painful experience causes a psychological scar. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones explores the different ways in which people process grief when they lose a loved one. When young Susie Salmon is killed on her way home from school, the remaining four members of her family all deal differently with their grief. After Susie’s death, her mother, Abigail Salmon, endures the adversity of losing her daughter, her family collapsing, and accepting the loss of the life she never had the opportunity to live. Abigail uses Freud’s defence mechanisms to repress wounds, fears, her guilty desires, and to resolve conflicts, which results in her alienation and
In The Color Purple, there were several themes such as Violence, Sexuality, Power, God or Spiritually. Power is a key role in this novel. Walker focuses throughout the novel that the ability to express someone’s thoughts and feelings is critical to developing a sense of self. Initially, Celie is truly unable to resist those who abuse her. Remembering Alphonso’s warning that she “better not never tell nobody but God” about him abusing her. , Celie knows that the only way to keep it is to remain silent and invisible. Celie is emphasize an object, an entirely accepting party who has no power to give herself through