My Papa's Waltz The poem My Papa's Waltz is about the relationship between an abusive father and his child, who is the narrator and the point of perspective. The little boy is trying to hold onto his father literally in the poem, but the poe Continue Reading...
Value of Sacrifice in O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" The short story by O. Henry entitled "The Gift of the Magi" is about Della and Jim, a very young couple who want to buy a Christmas gift for one another -- but neither has the money to afford Continue Reading...
Chopin's "Story of an Hour" and the Use of Symbol Kate Chopin uses various symbols, such as the open window, the home, the heart, the news of death, and stairs, to convey themes of alienation and otherness, both of which underscore the ultimate iron Continue Reading...
Symbolism of the 'Self' in Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" In the domain of modern literature, particularly in 20th century literature, Franz Kafka ranks as one of the most revolutionary writer, who used the techniques of expressionism and symboli Continue Reading...
Symbolism, Advertising and Chocolate By far, the most overused symbolism to sell chocolate is sex. Chocolate is sexy and women eating chocolate are even sexier. Beyond sex, chocolate is synonymous with fun, love, and even patriotism. Let us consider Continue Reading...
Symbolism in "The Cask of Amontillado" Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" contains many rich symbols. It is a story deeply shrouded in mystery and destruction for the character of Fortunato, and although Fortunato does not real Continue Reading...
Symbolism of Blood, Water and Weather Virtually all of Shakespeare's most prolific works are accompanied by symbolism. In this respect, his vaunted Macbeth is no different. This tale of betrayal, murder and revenge is so timeless in large part due t Continue Reading...
Symbolism of the Veil In almost any modern social environment, not dictated by the standards and restrictions associated with a non-secular institution it is difficult for most people, not just women to imagine living life behind the screen of a vei Continue Reading...
Symbolism in Portrait of the Artist If we were to concern ourselves strictly with plot, we might well say of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that there is no there. Not a great deal actually happens in this essentially autobiog Continue Reading...
Hunter and the Hunted: Courtly Love and the Many Faces of the Hero Literature abounds in depictions of the hero. Solomon, Esther, Gawain, and countless others call to mind tales of strength, valor, and passion. Whether a text's purpose is religio Continue Reading...
color in "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. COLOR IN THE GREAT GATSBY Fitzgerald uses color elaborately in "The Great Gatsby," and it usually has some ulterior meaning, like the "green light" that appears throughout the novel. Many critics Continue Reading...
fences' is precisely that 'fences' and yet whilst some handicaps seem impassible, there are others that are built on mental schemas, personal experiences, and the way that we instinctively and unconsciously interpret the world. A recent book that I Continue Reading...
Flannery O'Connor's story "Good Country People" and Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" are both stories about the ways in which people connect to each other and the poor job that they generally make of the process. While each of these stories seems at firs Continue Reading...
The motif of slavery is seen everywhere -- whether in the propaganda campaigns announcing the scarcity of products, or in the "newspeak" slogans that populate Oceania, or in the thought police that keep "proles" from arriving at any real truth or c Continue Reading...
They also act as a reminder that she, her mother and her mother's mother before her have all ventured out into the unknown -- it is a woman's duty. Her life with Somesh in contrast to her nervousness while they were together in India progresses nic Continue Reading...
The fact that smoke obscures vision even for the sighted is of course important; the cigarettes being smoked not only make Robert more like the unnamed narrator, but they also make the narrator more like the bind Robert by reducing this narrator's v Continue Reading...
In Job, the character of Job is presented as a virtuous individual who lives sinless and in accordance to the will of God. In order to test this, God sends his messenger down to strike Job and his life with a slew of calamities, including boils and Continue Reading...
Shakespeare's Sonnets 18, 73, 97 Poets have often looked to nature for inspiration and as a vehicle for self-expression. Throughout his lifetime, William Shakespeare is known to have written 154 sonnets, which cover various topics such as love, mort Continue Reading...
The two seem to be squaring off in generosity, each inviting the other to go before him to make obeisance. The postures and figures in the crowd range of arrogance to humility. A figure on the left appears to be frowning haughtily at the scene befo Continue Reading...
Story Of an Hour: Theme and Narrative Elements In a way, Kate Chopin's short story, "Story of an Hour," deals with a variety of different issues that are still relevant to this day. It alludes to the repression of women, the fine line between life a Continue Reading...
Daisies The Czech director Vera Chytilova's 1966 film Daisies invites an allegorical reading from the outset. It is clear that we are not in the realm of any sort of realism, but the question remains whether the symbolism here is in any way coherent Continue Reading...
White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf, Aaron Bobrow-Stain writes, "few foods have embodied so many dreams as industrial white bread, particularly during times of recession, war, and social upheaval," as white bread (ix). Few foods in Continue Reading...
Shakespeare and Blake A prevalent issue in English literature is how social status affects individuals. Two writers that are able to explore the negative aspects of social status are William Shakespeare and William Blake. In Shakespeare's Othello, Continue Reading...
Expressions Through Writing In The Color Purple, symbolism is used to reflect the struggles of the main characters. The main protagonist is Celie, who is a young African-American girl in the South. She is not fitting in with society for a number of Continue Reading...
Homecoming? The principle theme in Jean Rhys' short story, "I Used to Live Here Once," is the prevalence of racism and the accompanying sentiment of elitism that it gives those of European ancestry. This theme was fairly common in Rhys' writing, wh Continue Reading...
Lady in the Water, the 2006 major motion picture by writer/director/actor Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan that make it a quintessential allegory. The names of the major characters in the film (such as Story and Healer) obviously represent the ideas, as w Continue Reading...
Andrew Jackson The humble and modest imagery which accompanies Andrew Jackson at his inauguration is an image consistent with his reputation as a defender of individual rights and as a man of the people- one no different from everyday lay persons. M Continue Reading...
Crime and Punishment" Christian symbolism offers an undercurrent throughout the novel which helps explain Raskolnikov's redemption at the end, and which offers Raskolnikov and the reader a way out of destructive over-rationality. In the first part Continue Reading...
Oates' story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is one that has sparked the interest of numerous commentators who have read a multiplicity of views into the plot and characters? Some have seen the story as cautionary tale to teenagers. Others Continue Reading...
We should no longer have before our eyes those hostile faces, those hate-laden stares" (Wiesel, 9). By far, the darkest development in the life of the author was his gradual emotional and psychological distancing that he experienced with regard to Continue Reading...
Doll House Noted Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen composed his resound opus, "A Doll's House." Ibsen's "A Doll's House" is a dense and intriguing work that continues to vigorously engage readers and audiences after more than a century after his co Continue Reading...
Rabbit Hole The Symbolism of the Rabbit Hole David Lindsay-Abaire's play Rabbit Hole, which he adapted into a screenplay directed by John Cameron Mitchell, concerns a married couple coping with the death of their son, with complications brought in Continue Reading...
Symbolism in "The Origin of Stories" In "The Origin of All Stories" we can see an example of the importance that the Seneca -- a Native American tribe -- placed in their oral tradition, stories, as well as symbolism. Symbolism, especially, figures Continue Reading...
The angel's position as a symbol of faith is revealed not only through his wings, but also through his first appearance drenched in mud. In Christian theology, the relationship between God and man began with God's creation of Adam through a mixture Continue Reading...
When first offered the snakelike staff, Young Goodman Brown refuses to accept it although his does later accept a new staff instead. This symbolizes his simultaneous fear of evil and his temptation to embrace it (Miller, 1991). The staff itself lik Continue Reading...
Brown sees the initiation of a new "soul" into the devil's dark group, and this symbolizes the disintegration of Brown's own soul. He may not have "danced with the devil" in the forest, but the devil has still corrupted his soul. Another critic not Continue Reading...
Tiflin; and as a result, he tried to make it a point that Jody grows up responsible and independent (SparkNotes). Strengths & Weaknesses: The strength of this book is that three of the four stories in this book were published as separate short Continue Reading...
Her reaction "angered him somewhere, and made him want to compel her attention." While Paul's mother did not kill her son directly, her complicity in his obsessive behavior and her lack of genuine love and affection ultimately led to her own son's d Continue Reading...
Walt WhitmansO Captain! My Captain! is a poem by Walt Whitman. It is an ode to the fallen Abraham Lincolnor, better yet, an elegy for President Lincoln, who had been assassinated the previous year. Whitman was a strong supporter of Lincoln and his pr Continue Reading...
Symbols in Trifles of a Woman’s Oppression As Ben-Zvi notes, “women who kill evoke fear because they challenge societal constructs of femininity—passivity, restraint, and nurture” (141). For this reason, Susan Glaspell couche Continue Reading...
